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THE BOY APPRENTICED 
TO AN ENCHANTER 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO - DALLAS 
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 



THE BOY 
APPRENTICED 

TO AN 
ENCHANTER 

BY 

PADRAIC COLUM 



Illustrated by 
DUGALD STUART WALKER 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1920 

All rights reserved 



0° 






Copyright, 1920, 
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published November, iqjo. 



OEC -I 1920 



NortoooS Ptfss 

J. S. Cushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



©CI.A601751 



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2 



GO 

ELLA YOUNG 

IN MEMORY OF THE MANY STORIES 
SHE HAS TOLD ME 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 
PROLOGUE 

PAGE 

The Horses of King Manus 11 

PART ONE 

The Story of Eean the Fisherman's Son . , 19 

PART TWO 

The Story of Bird-of-Gold Who Was the Bram- 
ble Gatherer's Daughter .... 71 

PART THREE 
The Two Enchanters 131 



PROLOGUE 

THE HORSES OF KING MANUS 

As for the youth who had tried to steal the white 
horse that the King owned, he was bound hand 
and foot and taken into the castle of the King. 
There he was thrown down beside the trestles of 
the great table, and the hot wax from the candles 
that lighted the supper board dripped down upon 
him. And it was told to him that at the morrow's 
sunrise he would be slain with the sword. 

Then the King called upon one to finish the 
story that was being told when the neigh of 
the white horse was heard in the stable. The 
story could not be finished for him, however, 
because the one who had been telling it was now 
outside, guarding the iron door of the stable with 
a sword in his hand. And King Manus, sitting 
at the supper board, could not eat nor refresh 
himself because there was no one at hand to finish 
the story for him. 

11 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

And that is the way that the story of The Boy 
Apprenticed to an Enchanter used to begin. 

But first I shall have to tell you about King 
Manus and his three horses. 

King Manus ruled over the Western Island, and 
he had a castle that was neither higher nor wider 
than any other King's castle. But he had a stable 
that was more strongly built than any other King's 
stable. It had double walls of stone ; it had oak 
beams ; it had an iron door with four locks to it. 
And before this door two soldiers with drawn 
swords in their hands stayed night and day. 

In those days, if one went before a King and 
asked him for a gift the King might not refuse to 
give what was asked of him. But King Manus 
was hard to come to by those with requests. For 
before the chamber where he sat or slept there 
stood a servant to take the request, and if it were 
one that might not be brought to him, to make an 
excuse for the King. 

It was all because of the King's three horses — 
a white horse, a red horse, and a black horse. 
The white horse was as swift as the plunging wave 

12 



THE HORSES OF KING MANUS 

of the sea, the red horse was as swift as fire in the 
heather, and the speed of the black horse was 
such that he could overtake the wind of March 
that was before him, and the wind of March that 
was behind could not overtake him. 

Many had tried to get one of the King's horses 
by request or by robbery. But those who would 
ask for a gift were kept away from the King, 
while the stone walls, double thick, with the door 
of iron with four locks to it, kept robbers outside. 
Besides there were the two soldiers with drawn 
swords in their hands to prevent the horses being 
taken out of the stable by any one except their own 
grooms. And so it was thought very certain that 
King Manus would never lose his famous horses. 

But this very night, when the King and his 
lords were at supper, the neigh of a horse in the 
stable was heard. Then it was that the story- 
teller stopped in his story. The trampling of a 
horse was heard. Straight out King Manus ran, 
and his harper and his story-teller and his lords 
ran with him. When they came to the stable they 
saw that the two soldiers were sitting before the 

13 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

iron door fast asleep, with the swords on the ground 
before them. And the locks were off the door of 
iron. 

Just as they came there the iron door of the 
stable opened and the King's white horse was led 
out. He who had the rein was a strange youth 
dressed in a foreign dress. The youth was about 
to spring on the horse's back when those who were 
with the King sprang upon him and held him and 
held the bridle of the horse. 

And having secured the youth they went into 
the stable, and they found the red horse and the 
black horse eating at their mangers. They led 
the white horse back and put him in his own stall. 
The watchers who had been before the stable 
door could not be wakened, so those who were 
with the King carried them to another place, 
and left two others, the harper and the story-teller, 
to keep watch, with the soldiers' swords in their 
hands. As for the youth who had tried to steal 
the white horse, he was placed as has been told 
you, and every one there knew what doom would 
befall him. 

14 



THE HORSES OF KING MANUS 

It was then that the King called upon one to 
finish the story that was being told him when the 
white horse neighed. It was then that he sat 
at the supper board, not able to take rest nor 
refreshment on account of his not having heard the 
story to its end. And it was then that one of the 
lords said to the King, "Let the youth who is lying 
bound beside the trestles of the table tell us what 
it was that made him go into such danger to steal 
one of the horses of King Manus." 

The King liked that saying, and he said, " Since 
my story-teller abides outside guarding the door 
of the stable, I will have this youth tell us the story 
of why he entered into such danger to steal one of 
my horses. And more than that. I declare that 
if he shows us that he was ever in greater danger 
than he is in this night I shall give him his life. 
But if it is not so shown the story he tells will 
avail him nothing, and he shall perish by the sword 
at the morrow's sunrise." 

Then the youth was taken from where he lay 
by the trestles of the table, and the cords that 
bound him were loosened. He was put in the 

15 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

story-teller's place and fresh candles were lighted 
and set upon the table. 

"Your danger is great," said the King, "and it 
will be hard for you to show us that you were 
ever in such danger before. Begin your story. 
And if it is not a story of a narrow and a close 
escape there will be little time left for you to pre- 
pare for your death by the sword." 

Thereupon the youth in the foreign dress looked 
long into the wine cup that was handed him, and 
he drank a draught of the wine, and he saluted 
the King and the lords who sat by the King, and 
he said : 

"Once I was in greater danger, for its mouth 
was close to me, and no hope whatever was given 
me of my saving my life. I will tell the story, 
and you shall judge whether my danger then was 
greater than is my danger now." 

And thereupon the youth in the foreign dress, 
who had tried to steal the white horse that King 
Manus owned, began the story which is set down 
here in the very words in which he told it. 



16 




THE STORY OF EEAN THE 
FISHERMAN'S SON 



PART I 

THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S 

SON 

I. The Coming of the Enchanter 

My father (said the youth) was a fisherman, and 
he lived on this Western Island. It may be that 
he is still living here. His name was Anluan, 
and he was very poor. My own name is Eean, 
and the event that begins my story took place 
when I was twice seven years of age. 

My father and I had gone down to the shore of 
the Western Ocean. He was fishing in the pools 
of the sea, and I was putting willow rods into the 
mouths of the fish caught so that I might carry 
them in my hands to the market that very day 
and sell them there. I looked out and saw a speck 
upon the water, a speck that came nearer. I kept 
watching it while my father dragged the pool with 
his net. The speck became a boat, and the boat 

19 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

came on without sails or oars. It was a shining 
boat, a boat of brass. I called to my father and 
my father straightened himself up and watched it. 
In the boat that came toward us of its own accord 
there was a man standing. 

The boat came into the full water between the 
rocks, and then it sank down, this boat of brass, un- 
til its rim touched the water. It remained still as 
if anchored. The man who was in the prow of the 
boat stepped out on the sand between my father 
and me. 

He looked a man of high degree — like a prince 
or a potentate. He had a dark face and a dark, 
curly beard, and he had eyes that were like hawks' 
eyes. He had on a straight coat of a blue 
material covered all over with curious figures, 
and in his hand he held a long polished staff 
that had the shape of two serpents twisting to- 
gether. He looked at me and I was frightened of 
him, and I turned to my father. But my father 
was standing there, holding the fishing pole in 
his hands, his mouth open, gasping like one of the 
fishes upon the rocks. 

20 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

The stranger looked me over again — looked me 
over from my feet to my head, and then he said 
to my father, "There is no need that he should 
do aught about these fishes. I have need of an 
apprentice, and it would be well for you both if 
he should come with me." 

My father then found his voice, and he said, 
"If my son does not sell these fishes in the market 
to-day he cannot bring back the bag of meal for 
our household." 

Said the man from the strange boat, " Bring me 
to your house and I shall put down gold for every 
copper that your son would get in the market." 

My father made a sign to me to throw the fishes 
back into the water. This I did, but I did it 
fearfully. And then my father stepped out of the 
pool of the sea and he made a sign to the stranger 
to follow us. We walked from the seashore and 
up the path of the cliffs, and we went through the 
heather of the headlands, following the goat 
tracks till we came to the wattled house where we 
lived. The man from the strange boat followed 
my father, and I came last of all. And when 

21 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

I went in and stood on the floor of our house my 
heart was thumping within me at the thought of 
what was before. 

And there was the pot boiling over the fire with 
a few green herbs in it. There was Saba, my 
mother, stirring the last handful of meal amongst 
the green herbs. And there were my brothers, 
all older than I, sitting by the fire, waiting for 
the herbs and the meal to be ready. 

When my mother looked toward us she saw the 
man from the strange boat. She thought that 
some crime had been committed by me or my father 
to bring a man of such high degree amongst us. 
She and my brothers were greatly afraid, for they 
were poor, and those who were high were harsh 
to them. But the stranger spoke softly, saying, 
"Good fortune has come to you from the sea 
to-day." And when they all turned toward him 
he said, "I who am very knowledgeable will take 
your son with me as an apprentice, and I shall 
instruct him in arts and crafts and mysteries." 

My mother said, "The boy is young, sir, and we 
thought he would be with us for a time longer." 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

But the man from the strange boat said, "I would 
not take him to instruct him in arts and crafts and 
mysteries if he were a day older than he is now." 
He said no more, but he went to the table and he 
laid down on it piece after piece of shining gold. 

My father went to the table and held his hands 
around the gold. My mother looked on me who 
was just twice seven years old that day. I know 
she thought that she could never bear to part with 
me. But then she looked on her other sons, and 
she saw that they were men grown, and she thought 
they should have more to eat than the meal and 
the green herbs that were in the pot. She threw 
her arms around me and I knew it was a last 
clasp. 

"He will have to go into far places to learn the 
arts and crafts and mysteries that I would teach 
him," the stranger said. "Will he ever come back 
to me?" cried my mother. "He will come back 
to you when his cunning baffles my cunning," 
was what the stranger said. 

My father took the gold that was on the table 
and made it into a heap. My mother took her 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

arms from around my neck, and my brothers 
kissed me farewell. Then the man from the 
strange boat opened the door of our wattled house 
and went out, and I followed him. 

We did not go back to the place where he had 
left his boat of brass. We went to another place 
where there was a harbor with ships. There we 
found a ship ready to sail for Urth. 

My master sent me on board to ask the cap- 
tain if he would take us on a voyage beyond Urth. 
The captain said that if my master would guide 
them past the Magnetberg he would give him the 
ship to sail where he would after the cargo had been 
landed. My master said he would do this, and we 
went on board the ship. It was evening now, and 
a breeze came up, and the ship sailed away, 
bringing me from the place where I was born and 
reared and toward the strange countries that were 
beyond the rim of the sea. I asked one of the 
sailors what was the Magnetberg, and he told me 
that it was a mountain of loadstone that drew the 
iron out of ships that came near it and left them 
loosened timbers upon the water. 

24 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

II. The Inaccessible Island 

You have heard me so far, O King. Know 
now that the one to whom I was apprenticed was 
an Enchanter. His name is Zabulun, and in all 
the world there are only three Enchanters more 
powerful than he. The first is Chiron the Cen- 
taur, who is half man and half horse, and who 
taught Achilles and made him the greatest of the 
princes who had gone against Troy. The second 
is Hermes Trismegistus, the wise Egyptian. And 
the third is Merlin the Enchanter, whose home 
is in an island that is west of your Western 
Island. 

When the night came on, Zabulun took the 
steering gear into his hands, and he steered the 
ship by a star that he alone knew. When the 
morning came we saw on the sea all around us the 
masts and the spars and the timbers of ships that 
had come too near the Magnetberg, and that had 
lost their nails and bolts, and had become loosened 
timbers on the waters. Those on the ship were 
greatly afraid, and the captain walked up and 

25 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

down, pulling at his beard. The night came on, 
and again my master took the steering gear into 
his own hands and steered the ship by a star that 
he alone knew of. And when the morning came 
there were no masts and spars of ships, and no 
loosened timbers afloat on the waters. The 
captain laughed and made all on the ship re- 
joice that they had passed the dangerous neighbor- 
hood of the Magnetberg — that mountain of 
loadstone that drew the iron out of ships as a 
magnet draws pins on a table. 

We came to Urth. The great cargo that was on 
the ship was for the King of Urth, and it was taken 
off and sent over the mountain to the King's 
city in packs that the sailors carried on their backs. 
Then the captain gave the ship over to my master 
to sail it where he would. 

He did not come upon the land nor did he look 
upon the country at all. But when the last 
pack had been carried off the ship, he said to me : 

"You will have to do this, my first command to 
you. Go on the land. Stay by a pool that is 
close to the forest. Birds will come down to that 

26 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

pool — birds of the whiteness of swans, but smaller. 
Set snares and catch some of these birds, not less 
than four, and bring them to me uninjured." 

And I went on the land and came to the pool 
that was close to the forest. And there I saw the 
birds that were of the whiteness of swans, but 
smaller. I watched them for a while so that T 
might know their ways. Then I made a crib of 
rods and set it to catch the birds. One went under 
the crib, and I pulled the string and caught the 
first bird. And then, hours afterward, I caught 
another. And waiting and watching very care- 
fully, I caught a third. The fourth bird was wary, 
and I feared I should not catch it, for night was 
coming down and the birds were making flocks to 
fly away. One remained near the crib, and its 
neck was stretched toward it. But then it shook 
its wings, and I thought it was going to fly to the 
others. It went under the crib. Then I pulled 
the string and caught the fourth bird. 

I brought the birds to the ship and my master 
gave them grains to feed on. At night we sailed 
away. My master held the steering gear while it 

27 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

was dark, but when light came he gave it to me to 
hold. Then he unloosed one of the birds. It 
flew in the middle distance, winging slowly, and 
remaining a long time in sight. He told me to 
hold the course of the ship to the flight of the 
bird. 

At night he took the steering gear again into 
his hands and held the ship on her course. In the 
daylight he unloosed another bird and bade me 
steer by its flight. And this was done for two 
more days. 

The morning after the last of the white birds 
had been freed my master bade me look out for 
land. I saw something low upon the water. "It 
is the Inaccessible Island," said my master, 
"where I have my dwelling and my working place." 
He steered the ship to where the water flowed 
swiftly into a great cave that was like a dragon's 
mouth. In that cave there was a place for the 
mooring of ships. The Enchanter moored the 
ship in its place, and then he took me up the rocky 
landing place. 

There was a flight of great steps leading from 

28 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

the landing place — it was in a cave as I have 
told you — up to the light of day. There were a 
thousand wide black steps in that flight. The 
Enchanter took into his hands the black staff 
that was shaped as two serpents twisting together, 
and he took me with him up the stairway. 

We came out on a level place and I saw a high 
castle before me. There was no wall around the 
castle, and there was no gate to be opened. But 
when I came near it I found I could take no step 
onward. I went up, and I went down, and I 
tried to go onward, but I could not. Then 
Zabulun the Enchanter said to me : 

"Around this castle of mine is a wall of air. 
No one can see the wall, but no one can pass it. 
And a bridge of air crosses my wall of air. 
Come now with me and I will take you over the 
bridge." 

As the wall of air that went round the En- 
chanter's castle was not to be seen, neither was 
the bridge that went across the wall of air. 
But I saw my master mounting up and walking 
across as on a bridge. And although I saw 

29 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

nothing before me nor beneath me, I mounted 
upon something and walked across something. 
Following him I went downward and into the 
courtyard of the castle. 

Within that courtyard there was a horse of brass 
with a giant man of brass upon it, the giant man 
holding a great bow in his hands. My master 
said to me, "If one came over the bridge of air 
without my authority, the arrow of that bow would 
be loosened, and he who came across the bridge 
would be slain by this giant man of brass." We 
went within the castle. In the hall were benches 
and tables, and there were statues holding torches 
in their hands standing by the wall. Also in that 
hall there was the statue of a woman holding a 
dart in her hand. When my master came within, 
the statue that held the dart flung it, and the 
dart struck a gleaming carbuncle that was in the 
wall. Lights came into the torches that the 
statues held, and all the hall was lighted up. 

I sat with my master at a table, and the statues 
moved to us, bringing us wine and fruits. We ate 
and drank, and afterward a golden figure came to 

30 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

the Enchanter, and, sitting down before him, 
played a game of chess with him. 

The next day my master showed me more of 
the wonders of the Inaccessible Island. No ships 
came near, for there was no way to come to that 
island except by following the birds that were of 
the whiteness of a swan and that flew always in 
the middle distance. On this island Zabulun 
the Enchanter had lived for longer than the life- 
times of many men, studying magic and all the 
ways of enchantment. And for three years I, 
Eean, the son of the fisherman of the Western 
Island, stayed with him, learning such things as 
were proper for one apprenticed to an Enchanter 
to know. 

III. The Enchanter Goes to Babylon 

In the three years that were passed in the In- 
accessible Island, nothing that is worth my telling 
happened, King. But at the end of the three 
years my master said to me, "We will leave the 
Inaccessible Island, for I have a mighty business 
before me." And when I asked, "Where do we 

31 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

go, O master?" he answered, "We go to Babylon." 
And then, when it was the first day after the new 
moon, we descended the black stairway that led 
into the cave where the waters came. There we 
found a boat of brass that was like the boat that 
came to the Western Island on the day when my 
father and I were fishing in the pools of the sea. 
We went into that boat of brass, and it took us 
through the water, steering itself. We rested 
on lonely islands, and at last we came to a main- 
land, and there the Enchanter left the boat 
to sink beneath the water. As travelers then 
we went on. We came to a town, and there 
my master bought for himself and me the dresses 
of merchants. Then we came to the river that 
flows toward Babylon. Men go down the river 
in round boats that are made of rods woven to- 
gether. In every boat a live ass is carried, and 
when the cargo is landed the boats are broken up, 
for they cannot go back against the current of the 
river. And the cargo is loaded on the ass and 
brought into the market in Babylon. And what- 
soever the merchants buy in Babylon is loaded 

32 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

on the ass, and the ass is driven back over the 
mountains into the country that they came from, 
these men. 

And in such boats we went down the river and 
came into Babylon. No city in the world is as 
mighty or as wonderful as Babylon. It has three 
hundred and sixty -five streets, and in every street 
there are three hundred and sixty -five palaces, 
and to every palace there are three hundred and 
sixty -five steps leading up to its door of gold and 
ebony. The streets when we came into them 
were thronged with mighty, black-bearded men. I 
was much in dread when I stood in those great 
streets, and looked on the mighty men who went 
through them. 

In the center of the city were the palace and the 
wide-spreading gardens of the King. In those 
gardens, as my master told me, were one or two of 
all the beautiful or terrible animals of the world. 
Those gardens I will speak of again, King, 
for it was within them that I came upon the 
danger that was greater than the danger that 
I am now in. 

33 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

But first the Enchanter showed me that great 
wonder that was near the gardens — the Tower 
of Babylon. It was a red tower mounting very 
high into the air. Outside of it there were steps 
that went round it and to the very top of 
it — a thousand steps. And on the top of 
the tower, resting against the Spear of Nimrod, 
was the Magic Mirror of Babylon. Zabulun the 
Enchanter made me look to the top, and I was 
made fearful by looking so high. 

Oh, that I might tell you, King Manus, of the 
wonders of the Tower of Babylon ! In the shadow 
of it there slept two mighty ones — the two Genii 
who guarded Babylon, Harut and Marut they were 
named. Giant beings they were. As they slept 
there the beard of each was spread across his 
mighty chest, and it was a beard so broad that 
no horse of the mighty horses that the King owned 
could leap across it. Very great but very old 
were Harut and Marut, the Genii who guarded 
Babylon. 

I was made fearful by looking to the top of the 
tower. And then I was made still more fearful 

34 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

by the words that Zabulun said to me. "We have 
come here," he said, "to steal the Magic Mirror 
of the Babylonians. 

"It is there on the top of the tower," said the 
Enchanter, "resting against the Spear of Nimrod. 
One looking into that mirror sees all the Kings 
of the world. The one who threatens Babylon 
is shown with a spear raised in his hand. And if 
a King should bring an army against Babylon, 
the number of its men and the ways by which it 
comes would be shown in the mirror. The Baby- 
lonians, by means of this Magic Mirror of theirs, 
are always ready for their enemies, and because of 
this no King in all the world will venture to make 
war on Babylon. 

"But we shall steal the mirror and make the 
Tower of Babylon fall. Know that I, Zabulun, 
was once a Prince of Babylon. They dishonored 
me, the men of Babylon, and drove me out of their 
city. And for that I shall make an end of their 
pride and an end of their security. 

"Fear not. It will not be hard to steal the mir- 
ror and throw down the tower. Know that the 

35 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

King of the city is a foolish King, and that he 
cares only for his gardens and for the beautiful 
and terrible beasts that he can bring into them. 
And as for the Genii who guard Babylon — behold 
them ! They are mighty beings, truly, Harut and 
Marut ! Immeasurably old are they, and they 
pass their days in sleep beside the tower that they 
guard. I say to you that it will not be hard to over- 
throw the tower, and take away from the Baby- 
lonians the Magic Mirror that is their security." 

As Zabulun spoke the terrible beasts in the 
King's gardens roared mightily, and Harut and 
Marut, the mighty beings who slept in the shadow 
of the Tower of Babylon, turned in their sleeping. 
The flocks of birds that had built nests in their 
beards (the oldest owl and the littlest humming 
bird were amongst them) flew up and rested on the 
steps of the tower. 

The black-bearded men of Babylon passed in 
their throngs, while he who was once a prince in 
their city, and who was now Zabulun the En- 
chanter, stood there with his staff in his hands and 
smiling to himself. And I, Eean, The Boy Ap- 

36 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

prenticed to the Enchanter, felt as if I were fall- 
ing, falling down from the top of the tower. 

IV. The Palace of the King of Babylon 

And now at the supper board of King Manus 
those who were eating, or drinking, or whispering 
to each other as the youth began his story, became 
silent and eager when he spoke of Babylon and 
the Tower of Babylon. The King himself was 
fain to hear about that city that was the greatest 
in the world, and about the King who was the 
mightiest of all Kings, and he commanded the 
attendants to cease going here and there. So the 
servers and chamberlains and stewards, with the 
dishes, and napkins, and rods of office in their 
hands, stood still behind those who were seated at 
the table. The lords leaned forward with their 
eyes upon the youth who sat in the story-teller's 
place, and the King made a sign for him to tell 
on. But the youth Eean was speechless for a 
while. Such was the memory of the high Tower 
of Babylon upon him that had he been standing 
he would have fallen down. His head sank on 

37 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

the arm rest of the chair, and those near him who 
touched his hand felt it chilled. Then King 
Manus signed for a chamberlain to go to him, and 
he went and wiped Eean's brow with a napkin, 
and then brought him a goblet of the richest wine. 
He raised up his head and drank, and looked down 
the table, and saw the high candles that burned 
brightly, and saw the face of the King and the 
faces of the lords who sat with the King. But for 
a while his look was the look of a man whose spirit 
is in another place. He heard the words that were 
spoken around him — words that were about the 
King of Babylon, and the King of Babylon's 
palace. The youth caught at these words, and 
went on to speak of what befell him. 

The walls of the King's palace (said Eean, The 
Boy Apprenticed to an Enchanter) make seven 
circles, one wall rising higher than the other, and 
each wall having a different color. The first 
wall is white, the second wall is black, and the 
third wall is scarlet; the fourth wall is blue, the 
fifth wall is orange, the sixth wall is plated with 

38 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

silver, and the seventh wall is plated with gold. 
I was filled with wonder when I looked on the walls 
of the King's palace. 

The Enchanter that day had put on the dress 
of a merchant, but under it he had left his own 
garb — the straight dress that had the curious 
figures upon it. He took into his hand the staff 
that was made of two serpents twisting together, 
and he told me that the time had come to go to 
the palace and speak with the King. 

At an early hour, before it was yet market 
time, we went through the streets of the city. The 
soldiers let us pass through the Gate of Brass along 
a way that has on each side great lions carved in 
stone. We came to the palace, and my master 
spoke to the doorkeepers and they permitted us 
to enter. We went through the outer courts where 
there were soldiers who carried naked swords in 
their hands. And because my master gave him- 
self out to be a merchant from far-off parts, and 
because the King greatly desired to speak with 
those who came from far-off parts, we were brought 
into the presence of the King of Babylon. 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

He looked, O King Manus, like a King that was 
of a long line of Kings. His black beard was pow- 
dered with gold, and spices burned before him. 
But his face was white, and it was like to the face 
of a man in a dream. Only one person stood 
near him — a dwarf from the Country of the 
Dwarfs. He had on his head a crown of scarlet 
feathers. 

When we came before him, and after we had 
bowed, the King looked upon us. He spoke to 
my master, and said, "What have you to sell, 
merchant ?" 

And my master, before he spoke, let fall his 
merchant's robe, and he showed himself in the 
straight garb that was covered with curious figures 
— the garb of a Magus it was. 

"What I have to sell," he said, "is the meaning 
of dreams, King." 

And now, King Manus, I have to tell of a 
cheat worked upon a King, and of a cheat worked 
by my master, Zabulun the Enchanter, upon the 
King of Babylon. Pretending to speak of the 
meaning of dreams he led the King to destruction, 

40 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

hoping thereby to encompass the destruction of 
Babylon. 

The King turned to his ancient dwarf and he 
said, "Remind me of my dreams." And then the 
ancient dwarf said to the King, "Of the three 
dreams that seemed remarkable to you, O King, 
the first was the Dream of the Three Dishes." 

"It is even so," said the King. "I dreamed that 
there were three dishes set before me, no more than 
three dishes. And then I dreamed that after- 
ward these three dishes were hidden from me 
and were not to be found. There was no one to 
tell me the signification of this dream." 

"The signification of this dream," said Zabulun 
the Enchanter cunningly, "is easy to discover. 
In the lore of the Chaldeans a dish signifies a treas- 
ure. You have dreamed of a threefold treasure 
that is hidden away." 

But the dwarf who was beside the King spoke 
up and said, "Why does a dish signify a treasure ?" 

"That is something I may not reveal," said my 
master, Zabulun the Enchanter, and he turned to 
the dwarf the staff that was formed of two ser- 

41 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

pents twisting together. The end of the staff 
lifted itself as though the serpents were rising 
up. The dwarf covered his eyes, and cried out, 
"O Magus!" 

"Remind me of the second dream that was 
considered remarkable," said the King. And the 
dwarf said, "The second dream was the Dream of 
the Laden Ass." 

" It is even so," said the King. " I dreamed that 
I looked down the Way of the Lions, and there 
came along the way a laden ass. Of that dream 
also those skilled in the signification of dreams 
could tell me nothing." 

"And yet the dream is plain," said the En- 
chanter, looking full into the eyes of the King. 
" A laden ass signifies a treasure found — your 
dream is of a treasure being brought into your 
palace." 

"It is so," said the ancient dwarf with the crown 
of scarlet feathers upon his head. "In dreams an 
ass is always laden with treasure." 

"And what was my third dream?" said the 
King. 

42 



THE STORY OP EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

"Your third dream," said the ancient dwarf, 
"was the Dream of the Arrows." 

"It is even so," said the King. "I dreamed 
of arrows that were shot upward to a great height." 

And then the King was silent, and he and the 
dwarf looked long upon Zabulun the Enchanter. 
But Zabulun took a step nearer to them, and he 
said : 

"In the lore of the Chaldeans, arrows shot up- 
ward signify a very high tower. I can tell you 
now the significance of your three dreams, O King. 
They are of a treasure that is to come into your 
possession. The treasure is hidden. It is hidden 
beneath a tower. The height to which the arrows 
were shot shows that the treasure is hidden under 
the highest of towers — under the Tower of Baby- 
lon." 

At the mention of the Tower of Babylon, O 
King of the Western Island, a great fear came over 
me, for I knew that it was now that Zabulun's 
plan for the taking of the Magic Mirror was being 
put into practice. And it seemed to me that fear 
came over the ancient dwarf too, for he fell 

43 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

down upon his face. But rage grew in the King, 
and his black brows drew together in a frown. 

"Are you one who would have the King make 
search for treasure beneath the Tower of Baby- 
lon ?" he cried out. 

"No search need be made there," said Zabulun 
the Enchanter. "And yet if the King should 
dream of treasure again it is proper that he should 
sacrifice a black cock upon the place where the 
treasure has been shown to be hidden. If that 
be done the dream will be banished and will come 
to the King no more. I speak as a Magus. But 
now I have shown you the meaning of the three 
dreams, and there is no more to be shown." And 
saying this the Enchanter put the garb of a mer- 
chant over the robe of the Magus. A cup was 
handed to him and a cup was handed to me also. 
This was to signify to us that our speech with 
the King was at an end. There was wine in our 
cups, but bitterness had been mixed with the wine, 
to signify that what had been told the King was 
not pleasing to him. 

We went from the presence of the King, and 

44 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

when we were far outside the palace my master 
said to me : 

"It will come about that the King will search 
for the treasure that I have put into his dreams. 
Moreover, he will speak to others of this treasure, 
and they, too, will search for it. It will come 
about that these many searchers, digging for 
the treasure, will break upon the foundations of 
the Tower of Babylon. Thereupon I will take the 
Magic Mirror and make myself the master of the 
Babylonians." 

This he said to me as I went with him from the 
King's palace along the Way of the Lions. I was 
affrighted, and it seemed to me that the lions that 
were in stone looked ragefully down on us as we 
passed. 

V. The King of Babylon 

We lived for a whole moon in Babylon, my 
master Zabulun and I, before the danger that was 
greater than the danger that is upon me now 
showed itself to me. Just before the hour of the 
market we would go through the streets of the 

45 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

city and toward the great market place. Throngs 
of people would be there, gathered together for 
buying or selling, or for talk of the happenings 
of the day before. My master would take me to 
a shady place, and we would sit there, resting or 
refreshing ourselves with draughts of the wine of 
the palm. 

And Zabulun would tell me that the King we 
had spoken with was the most foolish King who 
had ever ruled over Babylon. "Great and terri- 
ble he seems when he sits upon his throne in his 
palace," Zabulun would say, "but for all that he 
is foolish, and he delights more to come into the 
market and hear the talk of strangers than to sit 
in his council chamber." 

Again and again Zabulun would speak of the 
King, and he would say: "Often he comes here, 
and he sits in the market place and talks with all 
comers, which is against the customs of the Kings 
of Babylon. We will see him come here, and we 
will watch him do what is reported of him." 

Seated in the market in a shady place I would 
watch the throngs that moved about there. I 

46 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

saw the merchants who had come down the river 
in such round boats as we had voyaged in. They 
brought casks of the wine of the palm to the market. 
And I saw those who had come from Arabia with 
spices, and my master would tell me how these 
spices had been gathered. Some had frankin- 
cense that grows on trees that are guarded by 
winged serpents. Only with smoke of burning 
sty rax could they drive the serpents from the trees. 
And others had cassia that is found in a shallow 
lake guarded by fierce, bat-like creatures. To 
gather it men have to cover themselves all over 
with the hides of cattle, leaving openings for their 
eyes only. And there are the merchants who have 
the ladanum that settles on low bushes, and that 
sticks to the beards of he-goats that go amongst 
the bushes. Others have the cinnamon that is 
used by birds to build their nests against high 
cliffs. Men cannot climb these cliffs to gather the 
sticks of cinnamon, but they make the birds bring 
into their nests such weights as break the nests 
down and so strew on the ground the sticks of 
cinnamon. They slaughter cattle under the cliffs, 

47 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

and the birds fly into their nests with great pieces 
of the meat, and the weight of these pieces of meat 
breaks down the nests. And so men gather cin- 
namon in Arabia. 

And one day my master showed me the King 
of Babylon as he came into the market place. 

He wore a black cloak that had only one stripe 
of purple in it, and a boy went beside him holding 
an Indian hound in a leash. Having come into 
the market the King seated himself in a special 
place, and he drank wine and ate honey cakes, 
and talked with the strangers that were brought 
before him, and let himself be gaped at by throngs 
of people. And then, from one to another of 
those who were around him, my master and I 
heard it said, "The King, surely, has had re- 
markable dreams." 

In three days my master was sent for by the 
King, and he came into the palace again bringing 
me with him, and he was saluted as a Magus. 
The King's dreams were told to him. The first 
dream was of a drinking cup that blazed with fire, 
and the second dream was of a ram-headed man 

48 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

with golden horns, and the third dream was of a 
soldier in a black cloak. All those dreams, ac- 
cording to those in the palace who considered 
dreams, were of a treasure. Zabulun, my master, 
agreed that assuredly they were of a treasure, 
knowing that whatever the King dreamed of after 
he had put the thought of a treasure into the minds 
of those in the palace would be thought to be of 
that and of nothing else. 

Then speaking as a Magus he told them that 
the blazing fire of the drinking cup, the golden 
horns on the ram-headed man, and the blackness 
of the soldier's cloak all signified the Tower of 
Babylon. The King and the ancient dwarf be- 
came very silent when my master spoke of the 
tower. It was then that the Enchanter took the 
staff that was made of two serpents twisting 
together into his right hand, and declared that in 
order to make the dream of the tower cease to 
trouble him, the King should sacrifice a black cock 
in the lowest place of the tower. 

Wine was brought us then, and my master and 
I drank, and this time no bitterness had been put 

49 




50 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

into the wine. We were given permission to go, 
and we went from the palace. 

As for the King and the ancient dwarf who was 
with him, they took horses and they rode to the 
Tower of Babylon, the dwarf bringing with him a 
black cock for the sacrifice. Harut and Marut, 
the sleeping guardians of Babylon, they looked on, 
but they went past them and within the tower. 
In the lowest place in the tower they made prepa- 
rations for the sacrifice of the black cock. 

Zabulun and I sat in the market place and 
waited, for my master said to me, "That which 
happens to the King, no matter how great it may 
be, he will speak of it in the market. We shall wait 
here and see if the King will come here on his way 
back from the tower." 

So in the market place we sat, my master and 
I. And in the tower the King and the ancient 
dwarf took the black cock and fastened him by 
a leg to a ring that was in a very light board in 
the floor. The cock, fluttering upward, lifted the 
board. Looking down they saw a chamber be- 
neath. They went down into that chamber, the 

51 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

King and the ancient dwarf, and behold ! they 
found in it a treasure of silver pieces, each piece 
marked with the mark of a King of the old times 
in Babylon. 

Soon Zabulun, seated in the shade in the market 
place, showed me the King and the ancient dwarf 
as they came amongst the throng. The King 
seated himself in his special place and drank 
wine and ate cakes of honey. My master, watch- 
ing him from afar, knew that he talked about the 
treasure he had found. For the dwarf who went 
with him opened a leather bag and showed cer- 
tain pieces that made those around them gape in 
wonder. 

Not long were the King and the ancient dwarf 
there before the Hour of the Market came to its 
close. Those in the market left and went to their 
homes. My master and I likewise departed. 
But those who had listened to the King brought 
with them the memory of the wonder they had 
been told about. A treasure was hidden beneath 
the tower — that was the thought that now pos- 
sessed every one. And when dusk had fallen 

52 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

upon the city companies of men made their way 
toward the tower, carrying with them spades and 
mattocks. The next day, when the King came 
with the ancient dwarf, he found that all around 
the tower, and all around the place where Harut 
and Marut slept, trenches and holes had been 
dug. 

He himself, with a company of men, went down 
into the lower chamber where the treasure of 
silver pieces had been found, and there they began 
to delve. The King found no treasure that day. 

When he came out of the lower chamber he found 
many around the tower digging and delving. He 
forbade them to do this, and he set guards around 
the tower. But in the night those who were set 
to guard the tower began to delve. 

The digging and delving within and around the 
tower went on in secret as well as openly. My 
master took me to show me what was being done. 
"Foolish is the King, and foolish are the people 
of Babylon," he said. "What I have told you 
will befall them. Very soon they will strike at 
the foundations of the tower, and the tower will 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

stand no more. Then will I take to myself the 
Magic Mirror, and make myself the master of 
the Babylonians." 

VI. The Genii Who Guarded Babylon 

O King of the Western Island (said Eean, The 
Boy Apprenticed to an Enchanter), I was there in 
Babylon for the whole of a moon before the danger 
that was greater than my present danger overtook 
me. Often Zabulun, my master, went to the 
palace of the King, bringing me with him. And 
the King would now receive us in his cool chamber, 
and he would permit my master to seat himself 
on a purple cushion in his presence. The King 
would ask him about the ways of governing a 
kingdom, or he would tell him of his wonderful 
gardens, and of the strange and terrible beasts 
he had there. Or else he would talk about a 
mighty treasure that was to be found, and of the 
beasts he would buy for his gardens when that 
treasure came into his hands. Zabulun would 
tell the King of beasts he had seen or heard of — 
of the aurochs with its mighty horns, of the uni- 

54 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

corn that was so white and so swift, of the satyr 
that is so marvelous that no one knew whether 
it was a wonderful beast or a wild man. And 
often, as they sat there talking, the King would 
have his servants stir up the beasts in his gardens 
so that their roarings might be heard by those in 
the palace. 

Over the King and the King's ancient dwarf 
there had come a change, I thought. For the 
dwarf with the crown of crimson feathers on his 
head would stand silent before the throne, silent 
even though the King spoke to him, silent as if 
listening to the sound that the spades and mattocks 
made on the ground around the Tower of Babylon. 
And the King no longer had the look of a ruler on 
his face, but had the look of a watcher and a 
waiter. There had come a change over my master 
also. Zabulun the Enchanter had eyes like yellow 
lamps, and they had become wider and more 
gleaming as the digging and delving around the 
Tower of Babylon went on. I could see his eyes 
widening in the dark when I could hardly see his 
face. And I began to have a great fear of Zabulun, 

55 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

even though he was kind to me, and had taught 
me many things. 

And now I come to the day when that danger 
beset me that was greater than my present danger. 
That morning I had walked in the King's gardens 
with Zabulun, my master. I saw the great palm 
trees that grew there. So high and so shapely 
they grew that I was made to think again of the 
Tower of Babylon, and I was shaken by my 
thought. I looked along the great avenue of 
palms, and I saw down to the lake where the King's 
blue herons flew. And from the lake coming 
toward us I saw a young girl. She had laid the 
long blue feathers of the heron across her breast, 
and I saw her white forehead and her white knees, 
for her dress was the dress of a woman of the moun- 
tains. But she, seeing Zabulun and I, sprang as 
a young deer springs, and went amongst the palm 
trees. I kept thinking of that girl, and how free 
she was, and how no terror of a falling tower 
beset her as she went by the lake where the King's 
blue herons flew or rested. 

Again Zabulun, my master, sat in the King's 

56 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

presence, and the ancient dwarf and I attended 
on them. The dwarf's head hung down where he 
stood, and he muttered. The King's voice was 
low when he spoke, but Zabulun spoke loudly. 
Also his yellow eyes shone as he twisted around 
his finger a purple strip that had been torn off the 
King's robe. 

And suddenly there came the mighty roaring 
of beasts in the King's gardens. The dwarf 
looked at the King, and the King spoke to the 
dwarf, and there was astonishment on both their 
countenances, for no command had been given to 
have the beasts stirred up. The King rose from 
where he sat and went to the doorway. I, too, 
saw what he saw. The doorkeepers, and even the 
soldiers who had naked swords in their hands, were 
fleeing as before some terror. The King shouted 
his commands, but no one heeded them. I looked 
upon the King, and the King's wrath was terrible 
to behold. 

And then I saw the King himself draw back in 
fear. What was it that approached? I, too, 
looked, and there, O King Manus, as I declare 

57 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

to you, I saw Harut and Marut, the giant guard- 
ians of Babylon, come through the outer courts 
and toward the chamber where the King stood. 

They were naked but for their great beards and 
their flowing hair. They came with great strides, 
but their heads and their hands were swaying about 
like the heads and hands of men suddenly waked 
out of a deep slumber. The ancient dwarf saw 
them approach, and he screamed out and fled. 

The King went out of the chamber and into the 
hall where the great pillars were. I called to my 
master, and he arose from the cushions where he 
sat, and he looked upon the two who came nearer. 
Along the line of the pillars Harut and Marut 
came, but Zabulun the Enchanter looked upon 
them without fear. 

The King fell upon his knees as they came near 
him. My master's face did not become fearful, 
but he, too, went down on his knees as if powerful 
and unseen hands had forced him down. His 
eyes did not lose their look of scorn, but he knelt 
even as the King knelt. The King and the En- 
chanter were both Princes of Babylon, and when 

58 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

Harut and Marut showed themselves in their 
might, there was that within them that forced 
them to sink down on their knees. 

And nearer and nearer Harut and Marut came, 
their heads swaying about and their arms hanging 
down. Nearer and nearer they drew. They 
touched the head of the King, and the King lay 
prone on the ground as though the life had left 
him. They came to where Zabulun the Enchanter 
knelt. But not on Zabulun's head did they lay 
their hands. They took him by the arms and they 
held him. Turning around they dragged him 
along the line of the pillars. I saw him being 
drawn across the outer court and through one of 
the great doorways of the King's palace. 

And then it seemed that I was the only one left 
in the palace of the Kings of Babylon. The King 
did not stir where he lay prone, and the dwarf 
did not return, and the doorkeepers did not show 
themselves any more. I ran from the chamber, 
and out through one of the great doors, and into a 
place where branches of trees seemed to shield me 
from the terror that had fallen upon the palace. 

59 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

And I did not know then that I was running from 
terror clear into the mouth of danger. 

For dire things had happened outside as well 
as within the palace of the King. The beasts 
that were in the gardens had broken out of their 
pits and their cages. I saw the beasts and I felt 
them all around me. I saw the hippopotami as 
they lay with their backs against the crimson wall 
of the palace. I saw the zebras stamp between 
the yellow wall and the blue wall, and ostriches 
run between the black and the white walls. 
And when I looked back from where I was in the 
gardens I saw monkeys climb on the golden and 
silver walls, frightened by the lions that went 
roaring through the courts of the palace. I ran 
on and on, down the great avenue of palms and 
toward the lake where the King's blue herons flew 
or rested. 

I ran on. But I had gone aside from the avenue 
of the palms, seeing a great buffalo that stood in my 
way. Something caught at my feet as I ran on the 
clear ground, and being pitched I fell into a deep 
pit. I lay there, and I looked to the sky, and I 

60 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

saw that the pit narrowed to the top, and for that 
reason was hard to climb out of. It was higher 
again by my own height, as I saw when I stood 
upward thinking of a way that might get me 
out. 

But then there came a sound that made me look 
downward, a hissing sound. And when I looked 
down I saw into what place I had fallen — into 
the Pit of the Serpent. In the shadow of the pit 
there was a dreadful snake. It was still in its 
coils, but its head was raised, and it was swaying 
toward me. 

Then, O King of the Western Island, I was in a 
danger greater than I am in now. This snake was 
mighty enough to crush a man, and from that pit 
there was no escape without help, and at that 
moment there was no help. The snake raised 
itself higher, and its eyes fastened my eyes. Judge, 
then, of my danger, and whether it was not greater 
than the danger I am in now as I sit here with the 
gleam of the slaying sword before my eyes. 

And then I heard a whisper that seemed to come 
to me from the sky. I drew my eyes from the 

61 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

snake's eyes and I looked to the top of the pit. 
One was bending from the opening — a girl, and 
she had in her hands a little drum. She began 
to beat on the drum, and the snake's head that 
was swaying toward me began to sway sideways. 
The girl beat again on the drum, and the snake's 
head swayed and swayed and went down upon its 
coils. At last the dreadful head was at rest, and 
the eyes of the snake no longer fastened themselves 
upon my eyes. 

The girl who stood above the pit put down a 
board for me to climb up by. I climbed, and I 
stood outside the pit, and I looked upon the girl, 
and I saw the blue heron's feathers laid across her 
breast. Then I sank down on the ground, and 
for a while I knew no more of the world's happen- 
ings. 

VII. Again the Horses of King Manus 

It was as if the eyes of the snake were still upon 
him. Eean stopped in his story, and his eyes 
were wide as if they looked upon a terrible thing. 
One of the servers brought him a cup of wine and 

62 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

placed it in his hands, but although he kept his 
fingers around it, he did not raise it to his lips. 

Nor did he appear to hear what was being said 
around the King's supper table : "A great danger 
the boy was in, truly." "The danger he is in 
now is not as great as the danger he has told us 
of." "We must hear the end of this story." 
"It seems that he is too fearful to tell us any 
more." This last speech came to the ears of 
King Manus. "Be not so fearful, boy," said the 
King. "You have been in a greater danger than 
ever I heard a man speak of, and by my sword, 
you are in less danger now than you were then. 
Drink the wine that is in it and keep the cup you 
have for a remembrance. I would have you at 
your ease, too, for we will sit here and listen to 
the rest of your story." 

When the King said this the lords who were 
sitting around the supper board applauded, and 
then the stewards signed to the attendants to 
bring more lights in. Fresh candles were put 
upon the board, and fresh torches were put into 
the sconces, and fresh logs were put upon the 

63 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

hearth. When all this was done the King and his 
lords turned their faces to Eean, for they were 
ready to listen to the rest of the story. But the 
boy had not seated himself in the story-teller's 
chair : still he was standing with the wine cup 
between his hands, and still his eyes were widened 
as if a terrible thing was before him. 

It was then, as they were waiting for him to 
begin, that the neigh of a horse was heard again. 
It was a very shrill neigh, and every one in the 
supper hall was startled by it. Out they rushed, 
King and lords, stewards, servers, and attendants, 
and they neither stopped nor stayed until they 
came before the King's great stable. Then they 
could hardly believe what their eyes looked upon : 
the iron door of the stable was open wide ; the 
watchers were there, but their heads were bent 
in sleep and their swords were upon the ground. 
Through the open door of the stable came the 
whinnyings and the plungings and the tramplings 
of a horse. Quickly they went into the stable. 
There, by the light of the torches that the at- 
tendants held, they saw the white horse and the 

64 



THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

red horse still in their stalls, but the black horse 
they saw rearing above a figure that was prone 
upon the ground. 

The blaze of their torches made the black horse 
swerve so that his hoofs did not come down upon 
the figure that was upon the stable floor. The 
horse was taken hold of and put back into his 
stall. Then the attendants raised up the one who 
was upon the ground. "Another one come to 
steal my horses," cried King Manus. "Well, this 
one shall pay the penalty that the other has been 
delivered from." 

They took up the one who was on the floor of the 
stable. They locked the stable door again and 
they put a double watch before it. They brought 
the one whom they had taken into the supper hall ; 
a lad, younger even than Eean, this second robber 
seemed. 

Eean was standing by the story-teller's seat as 
they came into the supper hall. Looking upon 
the one they brought in he cried out in the voice 
of the heart-broken, "O Bird-of-Gold, why didst 
thou peril thyself by staying here? Too faithful 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

to me thou hast been!" Hearing this speech, all 
looked on the one who was called Bird-of-Gold : 
it was then that they saw they had taken, not a 
youth as they had supposed, but a young girl 
whose dress was a youth's dress. 

In the light of the torches and candles they 
looked at her wonderingly. She had knitted 
brows and heavy eyelids that gave to her face 
the look of one who ponders deeply. And there 
was such fire behind the depths of her eyes that 
it seemed as if her thought was always burning. 
But her lips were colorless and her cheeks were 
thin and sunken ; her hair and her eyes and her 
eyebrows were dead black. And when they went 
to bind her as they had bound Eean they saw that 
her hands were finely shaped and yet strong and 
hard. 

"Who is she?" said King Manus. 

"I have told you of her," said Eean. "This 
is she who found me in the Pit of the Serpent 
and who drew me away from the venom of the 
snake." 

There was silence for a while, and then the 

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THE STORY OF EEAN THE FISHERMAN'S SON 

King said, "The chance that was given you shall 
be given her also. If she can show us that she 
was in a danger greater than the danger she is in 
now her life shall not be taken. If she cannot 
show that she shall be slain by the sword on to- 
morrow's sunrise." 

At that some of the trouble that was on Eean's 
face seemed to leave it. He cried out, "O 
Bird-of-Gold, tell the King the story of your ad- 
ventures from the beginning. Bethink thee, Bird- 
of-Gold, of the terrible things you have gone 
through and speak to the King and the lords of 
them. This King is very generous, and you may 
win our lives from him." 

The girl who was called Bird-of-Gold turned 
to the King her face that seemed to him to be 
like the face of a slave and a victorious warrior. 
Her hands were bound before her and her black 
hair fell over her breast. Like one who was ever 
ready in deed and word, as soon as King Manus 
made a gesture, she began : 



67 




THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 



PART II 

THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD WHO WAS 
THE BRAMBLE GATHERER'S DAUGHTER 

I. How the Bramble Gatherer's Daughter 
Went toward Her Fortune 

I am called Bird-of-Gold (said the girl, beginning 
her story), but that name did not belong to me 
until I was a girl grown. Before that I had no 
name. In the city where I was born and where 
I lived I was known as "The bramble gatherer's 
child." 

My father was the poorest of all the men of that 
town. He gathered brambles and thorns in the 
wilderness and brought them in a bundle to the 
hut where we lived. Then, while he was gathering 
another bundle on another day, I would go through 
the town selling the brambles and thorns for stuff 
for the people's fires. My mother I never knew. 
I grew up with my father, and we two had even 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

less than the sparrows. I had no playmate nor 
no friend, and what I got for the thorns and 
brambles I sold brought us but little to eat. 

One day as I passed along the street of the city 
it came into my mind that I was grown to be a 
girl. The thought that I should go from the city 
grew in me from that time. My father would miss 
me, but he would nourish the better if there was 
one, and not two, to eat the scanty meal that the 
price of the brambles and thorns gained for us. 

I got for myself the cap and jacket of a boy. 
Then one morning when my father had gone from 
the hut and had turned his face to the wilderness 
and his back to the city, I went out of the door and 
turned to the wilderness also. I took a direction 
that would bring me far from where my father had 
gone. I had dressed myself as a boy, and my 
thought was that I would come upon a merchant 
who would let me do service for him, and who, 
perhaps, would take me on a voyage. And I 
thought that I might win some fortune for myself, 
and that then I could return and take my father 
out of toil and hardship. 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

I came to the wilderness and I went through it. 
When the sun was halfway in the heavens I came 
to where there was a road. There was a pillar 
before me and that pillar had writing upon it. 
I read what was written there. The words were : 
They who take the road to the right will come to 
their fortune at last, and they who take the road 
to the left will be ever as they have been. When I 
read that writing I took the road that was to my 
right. 

I went along that road thinking every minute 
that I should come upon something that would 
bring me to my fortune. The light faded as I 
went along, and soon I had to look about for some 
tree or cave that would give me a shelter for the 
night. At last I saw a hut and I went toward 
it. When I came before the broken door I knew 
the place I had been brought to. It was my 
father's hut — the hut I had left that morning. 
And as I stood before it I saw my father coming 
from the other side with the bundle of brambles 
and thorns upon his back. Then I said to myself, 
"How lying was the writing that said that they 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

who took the road to their right would come at last 
to their fortune." 

I went into the hut with my father. In the 
darkness that was there he did not see that I had 
on the cap and jacket of a boy. He laid the bundle 
of brambles and thorns down on the floor while I 
went to prepare the meal for both of us. And 
while my father was lighting a fire I took off the 
cap and jacket of a boy and I put on my girl's 
dress. 

My father, when he had eaten his meal, said to 
me, "To-day when I had gathered the brambles 
and had made them into a bundle I lay with my 
head on the bundle and went to sleep. I awakened 
feeling some warmth near where my head lay. I 
looked to see if perchance fire had come upon the 
brambles and thorns, and, lo ! what I saw laid on 
the bundle was the egg of a bird. The egg was 
still warm, and the bird that laid it must have 
flown as I awakened." 

My father showed me the egg. It was strangely 
marked and was heavy for its size. I looked at it, 
and my father said, "Take it to the merchant to- 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

morrow, and maybe he will give a coin for it, for 
surely it is remarkable." 

The next day, when my father had gone into 
the wilderness, I went to the shop of the merchant. 
I showed him the egg that had the strange markings 
upon it, and I asked him if he would give me some- 
thing for it. And when the merchant had taken 
the egg in his hand he said, "This is something to 
be shown the King. It is undoubtedly the egg 
of the Bird of Gold." 

I was greatly stirred when I heard the merchant 
say this, and I thought that perhaps my fortune 
would come to me through this egg. I went back 
to the hut, and in the morning, before my father 
started off for his bramble gathering, two officers 
came and they took my father and me to the palace 
and before the King. And the King said, "It 
is known that of all creatures in the world the 
Bird of Gold is best worth possessing. For her 
claws can be made into an amulet that will bring 
wealth to the one who wears it, and the one who 
eats her heart can never be slain by his enemy. 
I would have the Bird of Gold whose egg you have 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

found. You know where she abides. Catch 
her and bring her to me, and I shall reward 

you." 

So spoke the King of our little country. My 
father and I went into the wilderness to search 
for the Bird of Gold around the place where the 
egg had been laid. And in the very place where 
before he had lain my father put down his bundle 
of brambles and thorns. Laying his head upon 
the bundle, he went to sleep. 

I watched beside the brambles and thorns. 
And after a time a bird came running along the 
ground, and went fluttering up on the bundle and 
made a nest for herself there. Small she was and 
all golden except for the blue that was under her 
throat, and the blue that was upon her feet. As 
she was making a nest for herself I put my hands 
upon her and caught her. I held her to my 
breast to keep her from fluttering away. 

And I said aloud, "0 bird, now I shall be re- 
warded for taking thee. For the King would make 
an amulet of thy feet that he may have wealth, 
and he would eat thy heart that his enemies 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

may not be able to slay him. Greatly will he 
reward me for having taken thee, O Bird of 
Gold." 

And as I spoke to her and held her to my breast 
the bird made a cry that sounded as "Alas, Alas !" 
I looked upon her again and my heart was filled 
with sorrow for the bird I had taken. Why should 
her claws be made into an amulet for the King, 
and why should her heart be eaten by him? 
I sat there thinking while my father slept, holding 
the bird very gently to my breast. And when she 
cried again "Alas, Alas ! " I opened my hands and 
I let her fly away. She fluttered near for a while 
as if to show herself to me, and then she rose up 
and flew away. 

My father awakened, and he said, "It is near 
dark, and the Bird of Gold will not come now. 
Perhaps we will find her on another day. The 
King should reward us for our search, and now we 
will go and tell him of it." 

So we rose up and we went into the city. And 
when we came before him, my father spoke to the 
King and told him that the Bird of Gold was not 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

to be seen in the places where we had searched. 
Then the King would have sent us away without 
doing any evil to us only that one who was near 
him cried out: "Behold, O King, and decree a 
punishment for these two deceivers. One has 
declared that the Bird of Gold did not come near 
where they searched. But look on the dress of the 
girl : All around her breast are the feathers of the 
Bird of Gold." 

Thereupon I looked down and I saw that the 
bird's golden feathers were all strewn around the 
place where I had held her to me. I was grasped 
by the hands and brought before the King. And 
he cried out, "Have you the bird hidden?" I 
said : " No, O King. I let the bird fly out of my 
hands." Then the King spoke to one who stood 
beside him, and he commanded that I should be 
taken and put upon a ship and thrown into the 
depths of the sea. 

I was taken from my father who wept and 
cried after me, and I was brought down to the 
river and put upon a ship. The one who was com- 
manded by the King to take me and throw me into 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

the depths of the sea was a man with a great 
hooked nose and a purple beard. On his hand was 
a ring with a great emerald in it. He was the cap- 
tain of the King's ships. 

I was put upon the ship, and the next day we 
sailed down the river and came out on the sea. 
Now, although the King had commanded that I 
be thrown into the depths of the sea, I was not 
then in as great a danger as I am in now, O King 
of the Western Island. For the captain of his 
ships hated all the words that the King gave him, 
and those whom the King would slay he would 
save, and those whom the King would save he 
would have slain. When we came into the open 
sea, so that he might obey the King's word and at 
the same time make a mock of it, he had me thrown 
into the water, but with a rope around my waist. 
After I had been plunged into the water he had me 
drawn out of it, and I was left living on the ship. 
And from the captain who had had me plunged into 
the sea in such ways and from the sailors on the 
ship I got the name by which I have been known 
ever since — Bird of Gold. 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

II. The Man Who Was High in Fortune 

We landed in a country (said Bird-of-Gold, con- 
tinuing her story) that was three days' voyage from 
the river's mouth. Then the sailors put swords 
into their belts and marched toward a mountain 
that was half a day's journey from the coast. 
They pitched black tents and they built a citadel, 
and they made themselves into a band of robbers. 
He who had been the captain of the King's ships 
was the chief of this band. 

Every day they went off to rob caravans and to 
make war upon the men who guarded the caravans. 
And always they came back, my master and his 
forty robbers, with no man of their band slain 
and with no man wounded. . Very rich and power- 
ful did they grow with the plunder they took from 
the caravans, and my master, the man with the 
hooked nose and the purple beard, grew to be a 
King almost. Men far and near sent him presents 
and men came to him promising obedience, and he 
had state such as had the King of my country. But 
he kept no men with him except his forty robbers. 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

Every one said of my master, the captain of 
the band, that nothing could come to him except 
good fortune, so great and so prosperous did he 
grow. Men marveled that so many good things 
came to him and so many evil things were staved 
off from him. And all his band swore by his good 
fortune. But one day a wise King who liked 
him greatly sent my master a message that said : 
"I rejoice in your good fortune, friend, but am 
also troubled by it. He who is so lucky must pay 
a great price sooner or later for his luck. Pay 
the price now, before it is exacted from you, and 
remain great and prosperous. Let the price you 
pay be that possession that is dearest to you." 

My master, having received this message, paid 
heed to what was said in it, for the King who sent 
it was renowned for his wisdom. He made up 
his mind to sacrifice the possession that was dear- 
est to him so that he might remain great and pros- 
perous. And the possession that he considered 
dearest was the ring that he wore with the great 
emerald in it. He went down to the seaboard 
taking me with him, for he would let none of the 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

forty men know what he was about to do, and he 
took a boat and he went, I being with him, over 
the depths of the sea. Then he drew from off 
his finger the ring that had the great emerald in 
it, and he let it drop down into the depths of the 
sea. Afterward he sent a message back to the 
King, his friend, saying that he had paid the price 
before it was exacted of him, and that his prosperity 
now would never fail, and that men would ever 
swear by his good fortune. 

After that he and his forty men went forth and 
won more plunder than ever they had won before. 
Also more men came from far and near, bringing 
him presents and promising him obedience. 

And now, being so prosperous and so feared, my 
master planned to attack a city and make himself 
the master of the King's treasure. He told his 
plan to his forty men and they rejoiced one and 
all, and they talked to each other as if that treas- 
ure was already in their hands. I prepared the 
meal that was to be given him before he collected 
his men for the march. 

The meal was of fish. The fisherman who had 



THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

just come from the sea laid his net before me and 
I took out of it an exceedingly large and beautiful 
fish. I divided the fish and began to make it 
clean. I found within the fish something it had 
swallowed. It was a ring. And when I cleaned 
the ring I found that it was of gold and that in it 
was a most precious stone — a stone of emerald. 

I brought the fish to my master cooked. And 
to make him rejoice I brought at the same time 
the ring to him. I told him that for the ring he 
had dropped into the depths of the sea another 
ring had come back to him, and that this was on 
account of the great good fortune that was ever 
with him. 

He took the ring from me and he looked it all 
over. He cried out that this was not another ring 
but the same ring, and that the characters of his 
name were engraved upon it. And he said that it 
was by no means on account of his good fortune 
that this ring had come back to him. Thereupon 
he rose up and went outside, and gave command to 
his band that they were to disarm themselves and 
tie up their horses, and hold themselves back 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

from making any attack that day. He then went 
into his tent and sat at the darkest part of it, 
his purple beard touching the ground, and all the 
while lamenting that his dearest possession had 
come back to him out of the depths of the sea. 

The forty men disarmed themselves and tied 
up their horses and sat in little bands playing 
games together. I would have stayed about the 
encampment making bread for the band, only that 
as I came near the tent where the kneading 
board was I heard a bird's cry. 

I looked, and I saw on the wellhead near the 
Bird of Gold. The bird fluttered and flew as if 
she wanted me to watch her. I followed where 
she went and I was led far from the encampment. 
At the edge of the wilderness she went amongst 
low bushes, and after that I could not see her any 
more. 

Because I had seen the Bird of Gold once more 
I went back toward the encampment thinking 
about the days when I had lived in the hut of my 
father, the bramble gatherer, and about the day 
when I had left that hut, and had gone across the 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

wilderness, and had seen the pillar on which was 
written that if I followed the road to the right I 
should come to my fortune, and about how I had 
come, not to my fortune, but back to the hut I 
had left; and I went on, thinking of how I had 
first heard of the Bird of Gold, and of how I 
had given her liberty when I might have held her 
for the great reward the King would have given. 
I went toward the encampment thinking these 
thoughts about myself, and thinking, too, of my 
master who had such fortune that men swore by 
the goodness of it. 

I made my way toward the tent where the knead- 
ing board was. And then I saw tents overturned 
and lying upon the ground. I saw the horses of 
the band straying over the plain. And when I 
looked to the citadel I saw it smoking with a fire 
that was burning it. 

There was no stir in all the encampment. I 
knew then that an army had come and had at- 
tacked my master and his forty men in the time 
that I was following the Bird of Gold or coming 
back from the place where she had led me. I went 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

amongst the tents and I saw that the men had been 
killed. And I saw the purple beard of my master, 
cut off by some insolent enemy and left lying upon 
the ground. 

Then I ran over the trampled grass and made 
for the wilderness. And when I came into the 
wilderness I hid myself amongst the bushes that 
the Bird of Gold had flown into. I thought that 
a great army was pursuing me, and in truth I was 
very fearful. 

III. How Bird-of-Gold Came to Her Fortune 

I hid at the near side of the wilderness (said the 
girl, Bird-of-Gold) , for I was too fearful to go back 
to the encampment and too fearful to go farther 
on. I ate the wild fruits that grew on the bushes, 
and at night I covered myself with dried leaves and 
branches and slept in a hole. I thought how he 
had been destroyed, that man whose good fortune 
had been above every one else's good fortune, and 
I did not know how such a one as I could keep alive. 
I was fearful while I slept, and when I awoke 
and sat upon a heap of leaves in that empty wilder- 

86 



THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

ness I was most miserable. I remembered the 
writing on the pillar that told me to take the road 
to the right on the day I left my father's hut and 
I put a curse upon the road I took. I cursed it 
because it had brought me, not to my fortune as 
the writing said it would bring me, but back to 
the hut I had left. And things were even worse 
with me from that time than they were before, for 
my return had brought me to the encounter with 
the King, and to the voyage with the captain of 
the King's ships, and to the dangerous place where 
I was now. 

But then I began to think that although that 
road had brought me to my father's hut it had not 
brought me back to a life that was as it had been 
before. What had happened after I had come 
back to the hut had brought me farther away 
than that road could have led to. Perhaps the 
writing on the pillar was not lying, after all. It had 
said : They who take the road to the right will 
come at last to their fortune. Perhaps my fortune 
was farther away than I had thought. 

Then I said to myself that my journeys were not 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

yet ended, and that if I went on I should yet come 
to what the writing on the pillar had promised. 
I sat still for a while with this thought in my mind, 
and then I rose up and went through the wilder- 
ness, going straight on toward a star that was still 
in the sky. 

I left the wilderness with its low shrubs at last, 
and I came out on a wide, green plain. Before 
going on that plain I ate again of the wild fruit 
that was on the bushes and I brought some of the 
wild fruit with me. I went on and on over the 
miles of grass. And when it was midday I saw a 
whiteness upon the plain before me. 

I went toward that whiteness and in a while I 
saw that it was all in movement. There were 
white living creatures there. I went on, and I 
came near to where there was a hollow in the 
plain, and I saw in that hollow a mighty flock of 
ducks. They were tame, for they did not rise 
up and fly as I came near. 

I looked on them with great astonishment. I 
had never seen so many ducks together. I looked 
them all over and I made a guess that there were 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

a thousand ducks there. And I had never seen 
such beauty in ducks before. For these ducks 
were of a gleaming whiteness, and moreover they 
had a shapeliness that I had never seen in such 
creatures before. I thought and thought, but 
I could not think how they had come into this 
unpeopled plain in such a vast flock. 

I sat down on the grass and I watched them feed- 
ing, thinking surely that some one would come and 
drive the flock to some market or to some great 
farm. I watched, and the ducks ate and ate in the 
hollow where they stayed. When the darkness 
came the thousand ducks put their heads each 
under a wing and settled down on the ground. I 
pulled grass to make a bed for myself, and ate the 
fruit I had brought with me, and lay down in a cold 
place near the hollow. 

I was awakened by the thousand ducks quack- 
ing loudly, and I looked and saw that they had 
spread themselves over the plain and were moving 
in a direction. I thought I should follow the ducks, 
and I did, and I was able to chase away two or 
three foxes that would have hunted them. 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

They were beautiful, these thousand ducks, 
as they went over the green plain. They were 
shapely and active, and they had a wonderful soft 
whiteness. The drakes were not colored differ- 
ently, but they had crests and tails that curled. 
When they knew I was with them they did not go 
straying here and there, but kept themselves to- 
gether as a flock and went marching in a direc- 
tion. I thought that they might bring me to my 
fortune. And then I thought that this great 
flock of ducks, so strangely without an owner, was 
my fortune. 

I was faint and hungry, but I went on rejoicing 
in the beauty of the ducks. I gave them time to 
feed and they fed. At last I came to the gate of a 
town. The watcher was astonished at the great- 
ness of the flock and he called to the townspeople 
to come out and fill their eyes with the spectacle. 
They came and asked me, "Who are you, O girl ?" 
and I made answer, "I am the girl whose fortune 
is in ducks." The people came on the walls of 
the town and looked over them, while the ducks 
spread themselves out, standing still. And more 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

and more the people marveled at the number and 
the extraordinary beauty of the ducks. 

The people set a place apart for the ducks and 
they gave me a shelter in which I might rest and 
refresh myself. After a while I heard them say, 
"The officers of the great King of Babylon should 
see this girl and her ducks. There is a marvel 
here for the great King to hear about." People 
came to see the ducks as a spectacle, and one 
would say to the other, "No prince by any river 
in China has such a wonderful collection of 
ducks." 

And then I was told that the officers of the great 
King of Babylon would come to look on my flock. 
These officers had come into the country to get 
for the King's gardens birds and beasts that were 
remarkable. 

They came and looked on the flock, and marveled 
that, whether they rested or were feeding, the thou- 
sand ducks harkened to my call and went as I 
bade them go. They spoke, admiring their shape 
and whiteness. And then a dwarf who had a 
crown of crimson feathers on his head came 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

amongst them and the officers spoke to him. This 
dwarf told me they would take the flock for the 
King, and that they would take me also to the 
great city, where I would have the office of mind- 
ing the ducks in the King's gardens. 

So I brought the thousand ducks down to a great 
barge that was on the river, and I went on the 
barge, and the officers of the King with the dwarf 
that had the crown of crimson feathers on his head 
went aboard of it, and we sailed down the river, 
and we came into the great city. For two days the 
King had me show the wondrous flock in the market 
place as a spectacle for the people. All Babylon 
came and admired the number and the comeliness 
of the ducks. Afterward they were brought to the 
lake that was in the King's gardens. As time went 
on many of the flock were taken by the purveyors 
and killed and eaten in the palace. But still 
they remained a wonder for their number and 
their comeliness. The King often came down to 
look on the thousand ducks, swimming on the 
water, or staying in their companies around the 
lake. 

92 



THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

IV. BlRD-OF-GoLD IN THE KlNG's GARDENS 

No place in the whole world is more beautiful 
than the King's gardens in Babylon (Bird-of-Gold 
said). My white ducks, when they swam upon 
the lake, went amongst water lilies that were 
silver-white or all golden. Beside the lake the 
irises grew, depths and depths of blue and gold and 
cloud-colored irises. I should never have left 
the side of that lake if I had not wanted to be 
amongst the trees that grew in the gardens above 
— palm trees of many kinds, and great cedar 
trees in the dark branches of which the doves built 
their nests. Greatly did I admire the trees in the 
King's gardens, for I had come from a country 
where there were no trees. All the palms were 
there — the date palm, and the royal palm, and 
the palm of the desert. They stood nobly by 
themselves or they made solemn avenues that led 
to monuments of the Kings of Babylon. In the 
grass there were golden poppies and little roses 
that just lifted themselves above the ground. 
There were great monuments, too — statues of 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

Kings and lions and chariots, and these reminded 
people of terrors and magnificences, and they were 
as a great wind that blew through the gardens. 

And there were tulips on the ground, and there 
were golden fruits amongst gleaming leaves, and red 
pomegranates on the high trees, and there were spice 
trees that filled the garments of those who passed 
with fragrance. And all in a garden to themselves 
were the roses — a thousand rose trees, each tree 
with a thousand opened flowers. I wept when I 
saw that garden of roses, and I do not know why 
I wept. 

All the birds that were lovely to look at or charm- 
ing to hear singing were in that garden. The black 
birds with golden wings from my own country 
were there, and the birds of paradise from the 
Land of the Burning Mountain. And it was told 
that the nightingales of Persia and Babylon and 
Arabia brought their young here that they might 
learn to sing the more perfectly. Also there were 
mocking birds that mocked every bird's song but 
the song of the nightingale. 

As for the beasts in the King's gardens, the first 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

one I made friends with was a lynx. He was not 
in a cage, but went roaming about, watching every- 
thing with eyes that never winked. And after I 
had come to know him and had made friends with 
him, the lynx brought me to the cages and the pits 
of the other beasts and with them I made friends. 
Of all the creatures that were there the one I 
was most fearful of was the queen serpent that was 
in the Pit of the Serpent. But the serpent allured 
me, and I used to sit above the pit, the lynx be- 
side me, and watch her as she uncoiled herself 
and swayed her head about. And as I watched 
her I would beat on a little drum that I carried 
with me. I began to see that as I beat the drum 
and made music for her the serpent's head would 
cease to sway and she would lower it, and then she 
would rest upon her coils as if she were sleeping. 
So I grew to have power over the serpent, and 
many times when I saw her try to draw down a bird 
that had come to the edge of the pit, I would beat 
upon the drum until her head sank down, when the 
bird would rouse itself out of the spell that the 
serpent's eyes had for it, and fly away. 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

So I stayed in the King's gardens, part of the 
day with the thousand ducks that were about the 
lake, and part of the day with the ever-watchful 
lynx that went here and went there. 

One day I came up from the lake after having 
decked myself with the blue herons' feathers that 
lay about. I saw two where none but the King 
or the King's ancient dwarf ever came. One was 
a man who wore a straight garment that had 
curious figures woven upon it, and who carried in 
his hand a staff that was formed of two serpents 
twining together. The one who was with him 
was a boy, and my heart went out to him be- 
cause he was young, and I had seen no one who 
was young in my days in Babylon. The two 
walked in the gardens, and I ran and hid from 
them. 

A day came soon after when I came up from the 
lake and did not find the lynx who was my friend. 
I went searching for him, and at last I came upon 
him. He had gone up into one of the great chariots 
that were for a monument to a King. I saw him 
watching across the chariot. I went beside him, 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

and the lynx did not move, but kept watching, 
watching. 

Before I saw what was coming I heard a great 
trampling noise. I saw trees break and fall down. 
Flocks of birds came flying toward me, and I saw 
the deer start up and run. Then I saw enormous 
shapes coming striding through the gardens. 
They were as men, but as men high as towers. 
As they came on, trees fell down before them, and 
beasts broke out of their pits and cages and 
crouched before them. The beasts were filled with 
fear, and they roared and screeched and trumpeted 
as if fearful things were about to happen to them. 
The giant men passed where I stood in the great 
chariot and they came to the gateway that led 
into the courts of the King's palace. They put 
their hands to the stones above the gateway, and 
the heavy, mortared stones fell, leaving them a 
space high enough for them to pass through. I 
looked from the King's palace toward the city, 
and I saw the Way of the Lions and it was black 
with people that fled from the palace — soldiers 
and servants and attendants. I saw the beasts 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

of the gardens bound or crash through the broken 
gateway, entering the courts of the palace. 

I saw the giant men come forth from the palace. 
Now they held a man by the arms and dragged 
him along. They crossed the gardens dragging 
the man, and for a time I watched the dust that 
their progress made. 

As I watched I saw some one come fleeing from 
the palace. He ran on, coming straight to the 
place from where I watched. He stumbled as he 
ran, and I saw him fall into the Pit of the Serpent. 
It had seemed to me as I watched him that this 
was the boy who had walked with the strange man 
in the gardens. 

In my hands I had the little drum whose sound 
could put a spell upon the queen serpent. I ran 
toward the pit holding the drum. And when I 
bent over I saw that the head of the serpent was 
very near to the boy. I beat upon the drum, and 
the serpent heard, and her head ceased to sway 
about. Then her head went down, and she re- 
mained in her coils upon the ground of the pit. 

I drew the boy up, and I led him to the lake 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

and I bathed his face and his hands. The day 
had almost passed before he was able to speak to 
me. Then he told me who he was, and what the 
events were that had happened in the King's 
palace. And that boy is the one who is before you 
now, O King of the Western Island, Eean, the 
fisherman's son, who was apprenticed to the 
Enchanter. 

V. How Bird-of-Gold Went to the Top of 
the Tower 

Long did it take Eean to tell me the whole of the 
story, and when he had told and I had gathered 
and put together all of it, I said to him, " Not yet 
has the tower fallen, and ere it comes down 
one might go to the top and take the Magic Mirror 
of the Babylonians and put it in the hands of the 
King." 

"The King may be dead," Eean said, "or else 
he may be in such a state that he cannot see or 
hear any more." 

We were then sitting under the greatest of the 
cedar trees, and he was eating pomegranates 

99 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

from my lap. I looked from out the shade of 
the cedar tree, and I saw the King of Babylon 
walking in his gardens. 

The King was fearful ; he looked to the right 
and to the left as he went on. When he saw a 
little deer that was standing still he was startled, 
and he turned back. As he came nigh the cedar 
tree he saw me standing there before him. I 
prostrated myself and I said, "O King, fear not for 
Babylon. The tower has not yet fallen, and the 
Magic Mirror will yet be placed in your hands." 
But the King only said, " Go to the tower and bring 
back to me the black cock that I tied to a board 
but did not sacrifice." Thereupon the King went 
within the palace. 

I called upon Eean to come, and we went down 
the Way of the Lions, and through the Gate of 
Brass, and out into the city. It was the Hour of 
the Market, but there were no people in the market 
place. We went on, Eean and I, and we came 
before the tower. There we saw a throng such 
as would have filled many markets, and they 
were standing round and gazing on the tower. 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

I had never looked before on the Tower of Baby- 
lon. It was built tower upon tower to the height 
of four towers, and its color was red. Around the 
whole height of it went a stairway showing 
steps on this side and that as it went winding 
around. On the top of the topmost tower I saw 
a gleam, and I knew it was the Magic Mirror of 
the Babylonians. 

That gleam dazzled me and put into my mind 
the thought of going to the top of the tower. I, 
out of all that throng, would go and bring down the 
Magic Mirror ! I went amongst them and they 
let me pass, for I had on me now the dress of one 
who belonged to the palace. I stood before the 
throng and I saw where a great space of rock was 
worn smooth — it was the rock against which 
Harut and Marut had lain. 

I came to the first steps of the tower, and I 
climbed three of them. I heard the murmur of 
those who spoke of me, and I stood still. Then 
up the first round of the steps I went, keeping my 
mind from the thought of the great height that 
was above me. I came at last to where the second 

101 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

tower grew from the top of the first, and I stood 
and looked down, and I saw that the men below had 
already become little. It was then that I felt 
terror of the height that was above me. 

I began to climb the steps of the second tower, 
fearful to look down and fearful to think of the 
number of steps that were before me. I went on 
and up, all in a terrible silence, and feeling that 
at the step above me something unbelievable would 
happen. 

After a great length of time I came out on the 
space that was the top of the second tower. 
On that breadth I rested. As I waited there the 
coldness of death seemed to come over me. 

But the coldness passed, and I felt the air again. 
I found the steps that went up and around the 
third of the towers. As I went on I felt that those 
steps leaned down on me and crushed me, and that 
with my feet alone I never could surmount them. 
Then I went down on my hands and knees and I 
climbed and climbed until my hands were bruised 
and the parts behind my knees ached. I thought 
that suddenly the steps would cease to be, and 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

that I should find no place for my hands, and that 
thereupon I would fall down all the height I had 
climbed up. But step came after step, and at last 
I came out on that space that was the top of the 
third tower. 

Above me was the fourth tower. I stood hold- 
ing myself against it, and I looked down all the 
distance I had climbed. I saw the great river 
shining whitely: like pebbles in the bed of a river 
were the throngs below. But now my fear went 
from me. The silence was all around me, but I 
was exultant because of the silence through which 
I climbed. The height troubled me no more, 
rather it made me exultant, making me feel as the 
eagle feels. I came out on the top of the fourth 
tower, and there was nothing above me except the 
silent sky. 

And there was the Magic Mirror of the Baby- 
lonians. It rested against the great spear that 
was Nimrod's, and it was turned toward the city 
and toward the King's palace. 

I looked into the Magic Mirror. As I looked 
into it I saw a writing come upon it. I read the 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

writing, and it said : Bring the Magic Mirror of the 
Babylonians to the King of Babylon, but burthen 
yourself not with the Spear of Nimrod. 

And that writing faded, and another writing 
appeared on the mirror. And the writing read : 
Zabulun the Enchanter has been brought by Harut 
and Marut into the cave that is below the sea. For 
forty days they will watch over him, but then they 
will fall into a slumber. Zabulun will come forth 
from the cave that is beneath the sea, and in anger 
he will pursue him who revealed his plan for the 
taking of the Magic Mirror. Take one of the rings 
that are around the mirror. It will reveal when 
Zabulun comes from the cave, and it will show how 
near he comes in his pursuit of Eean, the boy who 
was apprenticed to him. 

That writing faded, and I saw the rings that 
were around the mirror. I loosened one and I 
took it off the mirror and I put it around the 
wrist of my hand. The color of the ring changed 
to the green of the sea. 

I took the Magic Mirror in my hands and I went 
down the stairway. Down I went, from the fourth 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

to the third, and from the third to the second of 
the towers. As I went down the stairway around 
the first of the towers I heard the murmurs of the 
throng. High above my head I raised the Magic 
Mirror, and I went toward them holding it so. 

And as I went amongst the throng I heard a 
voice cry out, "The tower trembles, the tower 
rocks." It was the voice of Eean. As the cry 
arose the throngs drew back from before the tower. 
They ran, and I ran carrying the mirror, and Eean 
ran beside me. And when we came to the market 
place we two were alone. 

We stood in the empty market place and we 
looked toward the Tower of Babylon. In its 
great height it stood there, strong and wonderful. 
I heard the shouting of people around it. Then I 
saw the great tower swing like a child's swing. 
Dust rose up, cloud after cloud, and cloud over 
cloud. The cries of people came from out the 
clouds. 

We stood there until we saw the sun shine 
through a cloud of dust. Then we knew that the 
Tower of Babylon was indeed fallen. Never again 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

did we go near the place, but from travelers I 
have heard that where the tower stood there is 
emptiness, and that great blocks of stone are 
scattered far and wide. 

VI. How Eean and Bird-of-Gold Went from 

Babylon 

We went into the King's gardens, carrying with 
us the Magic Mirror of the Babylonians. We 
saw the great cedar tree, and we went and sat 
under its branches and spoke of what we should 
do. The Magic Mirror would have to be given 
to the King, but for long Eean was fearful of going 
into the palace. 

At last we went to the doors. They were un- 
guarded, and we went within the palace. We 
came to the chamber where the King was wont to 
sit upon his throne, and we saw the King there, 
and around him there were bearded men with 
fierce eyes ; by their fashion of carrying swords 
we knew them to be the leaders of the King's 
armies. These fierce-eyed men stood with their 
feet upon the steps of the throne, speaking in anger 

106 



THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

to the King. They did not see us as we came into 
the chamber. But in a while one caught sight 
of us, and he uttered a fierce word. I went to 
them, holding the Magic Mirror raised in my hands. 
The King raised his head, and he saw the mirror, 
and he cried out to us. 

I went and left the Magic Mirror on the throne, 
beside the King. I lifted my voice and I told him 
how I had taken the mirror from the top of the 
tower, and that now the tower was overthrown, but 
the mirror was saved for the Babylonians. Then 
the King said to the fierce-eyed men, "This is the 
Magic Mirror of the Babylonians, and I say to you 
that Babylon is yet in safety." Again he said 
to them, "Speak now and say what is to be done 
about this girl who brought the mirror down from 
the tower." 

One of the fierce-eyed men said, "Who is the 
boy who is with her?" 

The King looked on Eean and knew who he was. 
He said, "This is the boy who was with the En- 
chanter on whom be evil." 

The man said, "Banish the girl and the boy also, 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

but do no evil to them inasmuch as they have 
brought to us the Magic Mirror of the Babylo- 
nians." 

The King said, "Take them from the city, but 
let some treasure be given to them because they 
have brought to me the Magic Mirror of the 
Babylonians." 

One of the fierce-eyed men took us, and he 
brought us into a chamber in which there were 
many open jars. In some of the jars there were 
gold, and in others there were silver coins. The 
fierce-eyed man who was with us spoke to me, and 
he said I might take from the jar with the gold 
coins. I took many of them, and I tied them in 
different parts of my dress. Then he bade us 
follow him, and he led us out of the palace and 
to a place where a chariot with two horses was 
standing. 

He put Eean and me into the chariot, and he 
bade the charioteer drive with us out of the city. 
The charioteer, a silent man, stood up in his 
chariot, and lashed the horses. We drove through 
one street, and then another and another street, 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

and all the streets were empty. The charioteer 
called to the guards of a gateway, and the gate 
was opened, and we passed out of the city. We 
drove on until we came to where there was a great 
river. Then the charioteer halted, and he called 
across the river, and a man with a ferry came from 
the other side. He was a very ancient man, 
and he had a beard of great length. The charioteer 
said to him, "Old Man of the River, take these 
two across and away from us !" 

We went into the ferry, and the -ferryman took 
his pole and pushed across to the other side of the 
river. The man in the chariot turned his horses 
and drove back to Babylon. 

When the ferryman had left us on the other side 
of the river, Eean said to me, "Where now shall 
we go?" I made answer and said, "We shall go 
to my country, and to the place where my father 
is. And it may be that Zabulun when he comes 
from the cave that is under the sea will not be able 
to find you there." 



109 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

VII. How Eean and Bird-of-Gold Were Pur- 
sued by Zabulun the Enchanter and how 
They Went to the Cave of Chiron the 
Centaur 

O King of the Western Island, our wanderings 
began on the day when the ferryman left us on 
the farther side of the river. W r e went to the 
country where my father dwelt. We found the 
old man still gathering brambles and thorns for 
his livelihood, and out of the treasure that had 
been given me I gave him riches, and he had not 
to go thorn-and-bramble gathering any more. 

We had only been a little time in the hut that 
my father built when a new color came upon the 
ring I had taken off the Magic Mirror. Its color 
had been sea green, but now a red line came across 
it. By that we knew that Zabulun the Enchanter 
had left the cave that was under the sea. And 
the red line began to grow over the sea green of 
the ring, and we knew by this sign that he had 
begun to follow on our traces. Then said Eean 
to me, "I will go from this place and seek a hiding, 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

and it may be that I shall baffle Zabulun who 
follows me." I said to Eean, "I shall go with you 
where you go." "Nay," said Eean, "it is not on 
your account that Zabulun pursues us. He has 
no rage nor hatred against you, O Bird-of-Gold, 
and if I should go from this place by myself you 
would not be troubled by him." 

Then I said to him, "O Eean, I had no playmate 
nor companion until I met you in the King's 
gardens. Now I could not bear to see you go 
from me, and where you go I shall go too." 

Afterward I asked him if there were in the world 
any Enchanters who were as powerful as Zabulun. 
He told me of Chiron the Centaur, and of Hermes 
Trismegistus, the wise Egyptian, and of Merlin 
whose home is on an island that is west of your 
Western Island. I thought that only from one 
of these Enchanters might we get aid against 
Zabulun. 

The red grew over the sea green of the ring, and 
we knew that the farther the red grew the nearer 
did Zabulun approach us. I wondered how we 
might get to one of the great Enchanters. Hermes 

111 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

Trismegistus, being in Egypt, was far, and Merlin, 
on the island beyond the Western Island, was 
farther still. I thought of Chiron the Centaur, 
and it seemed to me that him we might be able to 
find. 

Now my father had lived a long time in the 
world, and he had heard many things, and he had 
thought over the things he had heard in the years 
when he had gathered brambles and thorns in the 
wilderness. I went to my father for word of 
Chiron the Centaur. 

"Chiron the Centaur dwells all alone in a cave 
that is in the side of a mountain. The mountain 
is covered all over with a deep and an ancient 
forest," my father told me. And again he said, 
"Once I knew the direction in which that mountain 
is, and to-morrow I shall go into the wilderness, 
and as I walk about it may be that the memory of 
it will come back to me." 

He came back from the wilderness in the evening 
and he said, "Away toward where the morning 
star shines there is a great waste. If one skirts this 
waste one comes to a river the waters of which 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

are as cold as snow. The river flows down from 
the mountain on the side of which is the cave of 
Chiron the Centaur. All this I heard in the days 
of my youth." 

Over more and more of the sea green of the ring 
the red had grown. By this sign we knew that 
Zabulun was coming close to us. I spoke to 
Eean and I said that we both should make ready 
to go to the cave of Chiron the Centaur. Then 
when the morning star shone very brightly we 
took leave of my father and we went toward where 
it shone. 

We came to the great waste, and we skirted it 
as we had been told. On we went, and we came 
to the river, the waters of which were cold as snow. 
We turned our faces toward the place from which 
the river flowed until we saw a mountain that was 
all covered with forest. 

Deep and ancient and silent was that upward- 
growing forest. So frightened of its silence were 
we that we never let go of each other's hands. 
For days we went seeking the cave, and at last 
we heard cries — they might have been from 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

birds, they might have been from the winds — 
that said, "Who comes to trouble the rest of 
Chiron the ancient Centaur?" 

We went toward where the cries came from and 
we saw the mouth of the cave. We mounted the 
track that led to it, and in fear we went within. 

And there was Chiron the ancient Centaur. 
His head and his breast, his shoulders and his 
arms were a man's, and his body and his feet and 
his tail were a horse's. His great beard was white, 
and his horse's body was shrunken, but his eyes 
were like pools in which there are living fires. The 
power of all the kings in the world was in his eyes. 

Chiron lay beside a fire in which fragrant woods 
burned. He turned his eyes upon it, and we heard 
cries as if the winds in the cave made them, "Who 
comes to trouble the rest of Chiron the ancient 
Centaur ?" 

I went down on my knees and I prayed him, 
"O Chiron, wisest of all who deal in enchant- 
ments," I said, "there is one named Zabulun, an 
evil Enchanter, who pursues us. We have come 
to beg you to tell us how we may escape him." 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

"Not to me should you have come," the voice 
of Chiron boomed out. "What have I to do with 
men who are as far from wisdom as Zabulun? 
Only one who is like him may strive with him. Go 
to another, go to another." 

"To whom shall we go, Centaur?" I prayed. 

"Hermes Trismegistus in Egypt is nearer to 
Zabulun than I am. Go to him and he may tell you 
how to baffle Zabulun. Tell him that you have 
seen the Phoenix in the cave of Chiron the Centaur." 

As he said this there flew into the cave the great 
bird that is called the Phoenix. I may not de- 
scribe her to you, O King. She flew to the fire 
of fragrant-smelling woods and she held herself 
above it. She fanned the flame with her wings, 
and the fire rose up and caught her breast. Then 
the bird sank down on the fire, and we saw her 
burn under the eyes of Chiron the Centaur. The 
flame died out, and what we saw of the bird that 
burned, and the wood that made the fire, was a 
heap of ashes. 

Then out of that heap of ashes came a bird. It 
was smaller than the bird that burned, but more 

115 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

radiant. As the bird stayed with the ashes beneath 
her feet she grew by some great thing that was 
within her, and then she rose over the ashes and 
fanned them with her wings. Again I looked upon 
the Phoenix. 

"Go to Hermes Trismegistus in Egypt, and tell 
him that you saw the long-lived Phoenix burn 
herself in the cave of Chiron the Centaur, and 
come again out of the burning. And when you 
tell this to Hermes in Egypt he will tell you what 
you may do to make yourself free of Zabulun." 

The Phoenix flew from the cave. Then Chiron 
turned his eyes upon us and he spoke to us of the 
way we should go to find Hermes Trismegistus 
in Egypt. When he had told us all we went back- 
ward out of his cave, and then turned and went 
through the depths of the silent forest, taking the 
way the Centaur bade us take. 

VIII. How Eean and Bird-of-Gold Came to 

Hermes Trismegistus in Egypt 

We found a ship, and I paid for the voyage out 
of the riches I had, and we came to Egypt. The 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

ring upon my hand showed that we were now far 
away from the one who pursued us, from Zabulun 
the Enchanter. 

But we two lost our way in Egypt, and we wan- 
dered about, reaching nowhere. Then Zabulun 
gained upon us again, as the ring showed. We 
hid in a village by the river, and we stayed there 
until the season when the cranes fly overhead on 
their way to Ethiopia. 

Then we went from that village, and we came 
again upon the way that had been lost. We fol- 
lowed that way and we came to the great pyramid 
in which Hermes Trismegistus had his cell. Down 
into the deepest chamber we went, and we came 
before Hermes the Egyptian. 

He sat before a table that was of diamond and 
that had wonderful figures upon it. He was youth- 
ful, and light seemed to come from his forehead. 
As wonderful as the eyes of Chiron was the brow 
of Hermes Trismegistus. 

We knelt at the threshold of his cell, and I said, 
" thrice-great Hermes ! We have been in the 
cave of Chiron the Centaur, and we have seen the 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

long-lived Phoenix burn herself to ashes, and come 
out of the ashes more radiant than before. Chiron 
was kind to us, and he sent us to you, O thrice- 
great Hermes. We are pursued by an Enchanter 
whose name is Zabulun, and we have come to you 
to pray you to tell us how we may make ourselves 
free from him." 

Hermes Trismegistus said, "I know of Zabulun, 
the wrong-doing Enchanter. But what have I 
to do with one who is so removed from wisdom ?" 

I prayed him again, saying, " Save us from this 
wrong-doing Enchanter who would destroy us. 
He has come near us often, and he will assuredly 
overtake us if you do not give us help, O thrice- 
great Hermes." 

Then Hermes said, "Near the Western Island 
there dwells an Enchanter whose name is Merlin. 
Not one of the great Enchanters is he, nor like to 
Chiron or myself, for he chooses to love rather 
than to be wise. He is nearer to Zabulun than 
we are, but yet he is not a wrong-doing Enchanter. 
Go to Merlin and say to him that you have been 
within the cell of Hermes Trismegistus, and that 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

you have heard from him to answer to the riddle 
that the Sphinx asks, and Merlin will show you 
how you both may be saved from Zabulun, the 
wrong-doing Enchanter. 

"But to come to Merlin's island, which is west 
of the Western Island, you will have first to go 
amongst the Atlantes, who live by the Western 
Ocean. They eat no living thing and they never 
have dreams. When you come to them, seek out 
the wisest amongst them, and ask him to tell you 
of Merlin, and of how you may come to him. 

"To come to the Atlantes you will have to pass 
by the Sphinx in the desert. Few ever pass her, 
for she has a riddle that she asks of every one. 
And the one who cannot answer her riddle is torn 
to pieces by the Sphinx. But I shall tell you the 
answer to give to the riddle that the Sphinx 
asks." 

Then Hermes, thrice-great Hermes, told us the 
Sphinx's riddle and the answer that we should 
make to it. He told us the way we should go to 
pass by the Sphinx and come to the people that 
are called the Atlantes. We left the cell of Hermes, 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

and passed out of the pyramid, and went on our 
way. 

We came to where the great Sphinx stretches 
herself out in the sand, and by the light of a great 
moon we saw her lion's paws and her woman's 
face. We heard the purring sound that comes 
through the lips of the Sphinx, and we halted 
between her paws. 

"What is Man?" said the Sphinx, asking her 
riddle. 

The paws that stretched alongside of us were 
quiet, and the voice of the Sphinx was very quiet. 
We saw her face far above us, and it was calm, 
though there was much scorn and fierceness in it. 

"What is Man?" said the Sphinx. 

Then I replied as Hermes Trismegistus had 
taught me to reply, "Man is he whose Mother is 
the Earth and whose Father is the Stars." 

"Go," said the Sphinx. 

Then we clambered across the great paws of the 
Sphinx, and we went on our way. Along the 
border of the desert we went, and when the great 
moon had changed herself to a little moon that 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

was hardly to be seen in the sky we came amongst 
the Atlantes, the people who eat no living thing 
and who never have dreams. 

The ring showed us that Zabulun, the wrong- 
doing Enchanter, had not drawn near us for many 
days. We were far away from him when we came 
amongst the Atlantes. But soon he came near us 
again. By that time I had found him who was 
wisest amongst this people, and I asked him to 
tell me of Merlin, and of how I might come to 
him. 

"Not often does the island on which Merlin 
dwells show itself," said he who was wisest amongst 
the Atlantes. "On the mid day of summer it is 
to be seen. Then it draws near to the Western 
Island, and if you will cast upon the water nine 
cocks' combs and four peacocks' feathers, Merlin 
will let you come upon his island." 

Thereupon he who was wisest amongst them 
gave us the cocks' combs and four peacocks' 
feathers. They reverenced Hermes of Egypt, 
the people that are called the Atlantes, and be- 
cause we had spoken with Hermes and had been 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

in his cell, they brought us on board a ship that had 
great leathern sails, and in that ship they carried 
us to your island, O King., 

IX. How Eean and Bird-of-Gold Came to 
King Manus's Stables 

We came to your island, O King (said Bird- 
of-Gold, continuing her story), but no sooner did 
we step from the ship to the landing stones than we 
suffered a loss. The ring that was around my 
wrist broke and fell into the sea, and thereafter 
we had no sign that would show how close Zabulun 
was in pursuit of us. 

We set off for that part of the land that Merlin's 
island comes near to. One day our way was 
through a dark valley and we lay down there to 
sleep. I awakened after some hours of slumber, 
and I looked toward Eean, and I saw that he was 
still sleeping. I left him to his sleep, but when 
hours passed I went over to awaken him. But I 
could not awaken him from that slumber, do what 
I would. For three days and three nights he slept 
in that valley while I watched beside him. 

122 



THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

At last he awoke saying, "What day is this, 
and how near is Zabulun to us ?" I told him that 
we were two days from the mid day of summer, 
and that we had no sign now to show us how close 
the Enchanter might be. We were greatly 
troubled, O King, for we knew not how we might 
come to Merlin's island by the mid day of 
summer. 

It was then that we heard of your horses, King 
Manus. We were told of their swiftness, and we 
said to each other, "Only by the speed of these 
horses can we reach the place that Merlin's 
island comes near, and by Merlin's aid save 
ourselves from the power of Zabulun, the wrong- 
doing Enchanter." 

At nightfall we came before your palace and 
your stable. Now it was not hard for us to open 
the doors of your stable. Your watchers drank 
of a drug that I made, O King. Eean brought a 
cup to them, and they, thinking the drink had been 
sent to them from your supper table, drank it. 
At once they fell into a slumber. Then we opened 
the four locks of the iron door with the keys that 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

were in their belts. Eean went within the stable 
while I kept watch at the gate of the orchard. 

Alas, Eean was taken before he could mount the 
white horse, and before I went to take the bridle 
of the red one. I saw him being brought within 
the palace, and I saw two new watchers take their 
places beside the door. 

For a long time I stood in the shadow of the 
orchard gate not knowing what to do. Then I 
thought that I should still take one of the horses 
and go to the place where Merlin might be spoken 
to, and so win aid for Eean, my beloved com- 
panion. I made another drug, and I put it into a 
drink, and I brought the cup to those who were 
at the stable door. These, too, were unsuspect- 
ing ; they thought I had brought it from the supper 
table, and they drank, and they, too, lost their 
senses. 

Then I opened the iron door of the stable the 
way we had opened it before and I went within. 
I saw the red horse in his stall and I put my hand 
upon his neck. As I did this the black horse 
broke loose, and he plunged at me, and he caught 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

me by the flesh of the shoulders and he flung me 
down. He reared above me, and was about to 
bring his hoofs crashing down upon me. Then 
indeed I should have been trampled to death 
but that you and your men came in, O King. 

You came with torches and you drove that 
fierce black horse away from my body. Never 
was I in such danger of death as I was in then. 
I do not think I am now in such danger as when 
I lay under the feet of that fierce black horse. 
But it is for you to judge, King. 

Bird-of-Gold finished her story, and, closing 
her eyes, she laid her head upon her hands. All 
at that supper table looked toward King Manus. 
Eean seemed to hear nothing of her story, for all 
the time his eyes were upon the King's face. 

Said King Manus, "She has been in danger as 
great as the danger she is in now, for verily, that 
black horse of mine is a manslayer. The girl, 
too, shall go free." 

Then the King drank another cup of wine and 
was silent for a while. Then he said, speaking 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

again: "They have fled a great way, these two. 
I should not be glad if they lost the match with 
this Zabulun. By the open band of my father, 
they may take my two horses, the white one and 
the red one, and ride to that part of the Western 
Island that Merlin's island comes near. For 
payment to me, let them ask Merlin the Enchanter 
what moves I should make in that game of chess 
that, for half my lifetime, I have been playing 
with King Connal." 

When King Manus said this the last binding 
was taken off Eean and off Bird-of-Gold, and they 
went to him and they kissed his hands. Eean 
promised that they would bring the horses back 
to the stable, and he promised, too, that he would 
ask Merlin about the moves in the game of chess, 
and would bring back the answer to the King. 

In the middle of it all, one of the stewards came 
to the King, and said there was one in the palace 
who knew the youth Eean and who could not be 
withheld from coming to him. As they were 
speaking about him, he came into the supper room, 
an old man, whom they all recognized as the one 

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THE STORY OF BIRD-OF-GOLD 

who watched before the door of the King's cham- 
ber, to prevent those who came with requests 
that might not be granted being brought before 
the King. 

He went straight to where Eean stood, and hold- 
ing up a torch he looked upon him. He no sooner 
looked than he cried out, "It is he — indeed, 
indeed it is he !" And Eean, his hands grasping 
the old man, said, "It is Anluan ! It is my 
father !" 

Then it was told to Eean how Anluan had left 
the nets of a fisherman after his son had gone with 
Zabulun as his apprentice ; and it was told, too, 
how he had come to the palace, and how he had 
been made the officer at the King's doorway on 
account of his extraordinary patience, a patience 
that he had learned when he handled the net, 
and that wore out the most insistent of those who 
came with requests to the King. 

There was much rejoicing over the meeting be- 
tween Eean and his father Anluan. Then Anluan 
turned to her whose hand Eean held, to Bird-of- 
Gold, and having wept over her he began to ques- 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

tion her about her accomplishments. It was at 
this point that the stewards took Anluan away, 
for the pair had now to make ready for their ride 
to that part of the Western Island that Merlin's 
island came near to on the mid day of summer 
which would be the morrow of that very night. 
Refreshments were given them at the King's 
table, the newest of meats and the oldest of wines, 
and they went out of the hall, and they mounted 
the horses that the grooms of King Manus now 
brought out for them, Eean taking the white 
horse, and Bird-of-Gold the red horse. A bound 
and a bound, and the white and the red started 
off, spurning the cobblestones of the courtyard, 
riding toward their meeting with that Enchanter 
who would give them freedom from Zabulun, 
Merlin, the Enchanter of the Isle of Britain. 



128 




THE TWO ENCHANTERS 



PART III 

THE TWO ENCHANTERS 

I. Merlin and Vivien 

A great Enchanter indeed was Merlin. He 
served with his enchantments the King of the 
Isle of Britain from the time he was a stripling 
to the time when he was two score years of age. 
Then, when he might have passed from being a 
lesser to being a great Enchanter, Merlin van- 
ished altogether and was seen no more at the court 
of the King of the Isle of Britain. All the great 
works he had planned were left undone, all the 
instruments he had gathered were left unused, 
all the books he had brought together were left 
unopened, and the King whom he had served so 
long was left to whistle for his Enchanter. 

If there were one to blame for that it was the 
daughter of King Dionas. She was young, but 
she was ungentle. What she saw, that she would 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

have. One day a stranger was passing with her 
father, and when he looked on her he said, "A 
young hawk she is, a young hawk that has not 
yet flown at any prey." That very day the 
daughter of King Dionas walked on the plain that 
was at a distance from her father's castle. The 
stranger who had spoken of her to the King was 
there, and he looked long upon her. 

"Who art thou who lookest on me so?" said 
the child. 

"Thou art Nimiane, who art also called Vivien," 
said the stranger. 

"Yea," said she, "but who art thou, man?" 

"I am called Merlin," he said, "and I am the 
Enchanter to the King of the Isle of Britain." 

"Show me thine enchantments," said Vivien, 
who feared not to speak to any man. 

Now Merlin had looked on all the ladies who 
were at the court of the King of the Isle of Britain, 
and on the maidens who were in far countries and 
distant castles, and besides, the ladies of the times 
of old had been shown him in his Magic Glass, but 
never before had he seen any one who seemed so 

132 



THE TWO ENCHANTERS 

lovely to him as this child. She was bright eyed 
as a bird. She had a slim body, and pale cheeks, 
and quick, quick hands. Her hair was red and 
in thick tangles. "Show me thine enchantments," 
she cried to him again. 

Merlin bade her come with him and she came. 
He brought her to a high place, a place that was 
of rock with rocks piled all about it. On the 
ground he made magical figures. Then he said 
magical words. And all the time Vivien, slim 
Vivien with her tangle of red hair, stood upon the 
rocks and kept her eyes upon him. 

Upon the ground that was all rock Merlin made 
a garden with roses blowing and clear waters 
flowing, with birds singing amongst the leaves 
and fishes swimming in the streams. He made 
trees grow, too, with honey-tasting fruits upon 
them. 

Vivien went through the garden, plucking the 
flowers and tasting the fruits that grew there. 
She turned to Merlin and looked at him again 
with her bright eyes. "Canst thou make a 
castle for me?" said she. 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

Then Merlin made his magical figures and said 
his magical words over again. The stones that 
were strewn about everywhere came together and 
built themselves up into a castle. When the 
castle rose before them Vivien took Merlin by 
the hand, and they went through its doorway and 
up the stairway and into the castle turret. And 
when they looked from the turret Vivien said, 
" Would that no one should know of this garden 
and this castle but thou and I !" 

He told her that the castle and the garden would 
be hidden. Then when they were leaving the 
garden he put a mist all around, a mist that those 
who came that way could not see through and 
were made fearful of venturing into. 

And so the castle and the garden were all un- 
known to men. But Vivien would come, passing 
through the mist, and going into the garden and 
up into the turret. At first she would not have 
Merlin near her. Afterward it came to pass 
that she would summon him. A bugle hung in 
the turret of the castle, and she would blow upon 
it, and he would come and stay by her. 

134 



THE TWO ENCHANTERS 

He was two score years of age, and she was 
five years less than a score. Nevertheless he 
thought it better to watch her dancing with bright 
green leaves in her red hair than to know all that 
would bring him from being a lesser to being a 
great Enchanter. Of the maidens and great 
ladies he had seen, some, he told her, were like 
light, and some were like flowers, and some were 
like a flame of fire. But she, he said, was like the 
wind. And he took thought no more for the 
King of the Isle of Britain, nor for the great work 
he was to do for him, and he spent his days in 
watching Vivien, and in listening to Vivien, and 
in making magic things for Vivien's delight. 

Her father once took her away from the place 
near where the hidden garden and the hidden 
castle stood. Vivien was in another country now. 
And when she went amongst those who were 
strangers to her she found out that nothing 
mattered to her except the looks and the words 
of Merlin. The castle and the garden — she did 
not think of them, nor of the magic things he 
had made for her. Her thoughts were only on 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

Merlin, who was so wise and who could do such 
wonders. 

When she came back, and when she met him 
in the hidden garden, she caught hold of his hands, 
and she would not let go of them. Nor would she 
tell Merlin why this change had come over her, 
and why she would keep close to him now and not 
apart. At last she said to him, "What ladies 
and what maidens have you known, O my master 
Merlin?" 

Then Merlin took his Magic Glass into his hands, 
and in it he showed her all the ladies who were 
at the court of the King of the Isle of Britain, 
and he showed her all the lovely maidens who 
lived in far countries and in distant castles whom 
he knew. Vivien threw herself on the ground with 
her face to the rock after she had looked into the 
glass. 

Then afterward she watched him in a way 
different from the way she had watched him before. 
What he said and what he did she remembered 
well. Soon she understood his magic figures and 
could make them. She came to understand his 

136 



THE TWO ENCHANTERS 

magic words and to be able to repeat them. And 
Merlin would say to her, "O my little hawk, fly 
at this — and this — and this." 

One day as they wandered through a forest 
Vivien asked him to tell her the mightiest spell 
that he knew. The Enchanter told it to her. She 
stood still, with all her quick mind in her face, 
while he put aside the tangles of her red hair and 
spoke into her ear. 

It was a spell that would hold in a place the 
one whom it was spoken over. When he had told 
her he went at her bidding and seated himself 
under a forest tree. Vivien, laughing, made a 
magic circle around him and repeated the spell 
that he had given her. When she did this the 
Enchanter was enchanted. Merlin stayed under 
the forest tree, and there he would stay, for he 
could not move until the spell that was said over 
him was unsaid by Vivien. 

And Vivien danced around him, her red hair 
shaking, her bright eyes gleaming, her quick hands 
waving. She called to him, "Merlin, Merlin En- 
chanter, come to me." But Merlin, under the 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

forest tree, could not move. She ran through 
the woods and he could not follow after her. In a 
while she came back and stood beside him. 

Said Merlin to her, "Why have you worked 
this spell upon me, and why have you left me here 
so that I cannot move?" She knelt down on 
the ground beside where he sat. 

"O Merlin," said she, "I would leave you here 
enchanted, for fear you should leave me and go 
amongst the maidens and the ladies who are so 
lovely." And when she said that her face was 
so hard that he knew she would hold him there. 

But Merlin smiled, and he said to her, "I 
would stay always where you are, Vivien, blossom 
of the furze." 

"Nay," said she, "you would go from me. 
Why should you not? You have great works to 
do for the King of the land. And when you see 
again the ladies and the maidens who are the 
loveliest in the world you will not come back again 
to Vivien. I shall hate the castle and the garden 
that you made for me, and I shall hate every one 
who will come near me. I shall hold you, Merlin, 

138 



THE TWO ENCHANTERS 

here, even until the wolves come out at night and 
devour you and me." 

"I will build a castle for you in an empty 
country, and no one shall ever be there but you 
and me," said Merlin. 

"Nay," said Vivien, "they will search the world 
for you, Merlin, and when they find you, you will 
have to go with them." 

Then Merlin, as if it were a magic thing that 
would please her, brought out his thought about 
the Island of the White Tower. Away beyond the 
Western Island, in a sea that is never sailed on, 
that island lies. Only on Midsummer Day does 
it come near to the Western Island so that men 
may see it. There, said Merlin, they might go. 
Those who would search for him could never 
come to him there. He told her more and more 
about the Island of the White Tower, and Vivien 
listened in delight to all he told her. And when 
he had sworn he would take her to it she unsaid 
the spell with which she had bespelled him, and 
he rose up from where he had been held, and he 
sprang across the magic figure that was drawn 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

upon the ground. And with Vivien Merlin went 
through the forest. 

The fishermen who cast their nets by the shores 
of the Western Ocean have this story of Merlin 
and Vivien. They tell how in a boat of crystal 
twelve creatures sailed to the Island of the White 
Tower. And two were Merlin and Vivien, and 
nine were the nine prime bards of the Isle of 
Britain who went with Merlin, and one was the 
tame wolf that was Merlin's servant. They 
sailed out upon a Midsummer's Day, and from 
that good day to this no hint or hair of the En- 
chanter has been seen by King nor clown in all the 
Isle of Britain. 

II. Zabtjlun the Enchanter 

It was Anluan, the father of Eean, Anluan who 
had once been a fisherman by the shores of the 
Western Ocean, who told this story of the En- 
chanter of the Isle of Britain. The fishermen 
know the story, and they, more often than any 
others, have seen the Island of the White Tower 

140 



THE TWO ENCHANTERS 

as it shows itself on the rim of the Western 
Ocean. 

The story was told after the white horse and 
the red horse had clattered across the stones of 
the courtyard, bringing Eean and Bird-of-Gold 
toward their meeting with Merlin. Candles 
thicker than a man's wrist had been put upon the 
supper table ; fresh torches had been set in the 
sconces along the walls ; and logs of resinous wood 
had been piled upon the hearth. All this was 
done so that the King and his lords might drink 
their last cups of wine before they went into the 
sleeping chambers. 

And now, in the light of shining candles and 
blazing torches and mounting hearth fires, the 
squires and the servers went amongst the company 
filling the wine cups up. Some had already the 
wine in their cups, and were waiting for King 
Manus to raise his in a health. Then the strangest 
of strange things happened. No wind came into 
the hall, but suddenly the candles upon the table 
and the torches along the walls went out. The 
servers went to relight the torches at the hearth, 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

but the hearth blaze had died down, and all the 
logs were black. 

And blackness was in the chamber where, a 
minute before, candles and torches and hearth 
fires were blazing. The King and his lords stood 
around the table, while the servers and squires 
ran through every chamber of the castle to find a 
spark of light. 

But not even a spark could they find ; not the 
light of a rush candle even was to be found in any 
hall or chamber in the castle. And on every 
stairway the same story was told, how suddenly 
light and fire had gone black out. 

But now the grooms came in with flints and steel 
and tow. Every one tried to strike a spark, but 
no spark came for all their striking. And now, 
all over the castle, there were outbursts of woe : 
the cooks were lamenting that they would have 
no fires, and the women were weeping because 
lights could not be brought them. It was then 
that King Manus bade his lords stand around 
laying their hands upon the table. 

The next thing was that a figure appeared at 

142 



THE TWO ENCHANTERS 

the doorway. All saw it, for there was a line of 
faint light around it. It was the figure of a tall 
man. "Speak," said King Manus with his hand 
stretched to the figure. 

"If you will have me speak," said the man. 

"The lights and the fires have been quenched 
in the castle. How has this come to be?" 

"It is in the power of an Enchanter of the 
second degree to quench light and fire," said the 
man in the darkness. "Further, King Manus: 
the fire and light that is extinguished cannot 
be brought back until the Enchanter lifts his 
ban." 

"Have you come to tell me this?" asked the 
King. 

"I have come to make a request of you, King 
Manus," said the man in the darkness. 

Then Anluan, the father of Eean, he whose 
duty it was to let none that might have a request 
come face to face with the King, groped around 
the room that he might place himself before his 
master. But ere he came to where King Manus 
stood the man with the line of light around had 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

come so close that he and the King looked into 
each other's eyes. 

"O King," said the stranger, "I have answered 
what you asked of me. Now I make my request. 
It is that the black horse that is in your stable be 
given to me." 

There was a stir in the darkened hall, and then 
there was an outcry. It was from Anluan, the 
father of Eean. "O, King Manus, beware of 
the man who knows of the powers of Enchanters. 
He may be the one who would ride in -chase of 
Eean, my son !" 

"He has made a request of me," said King 
Manus. "By the open hand of my father, it will 
have to be granted him." 

"It is for the one horse that can follow the 
others," Anluan cried. 

"I have never refused a request! Alas, alas, 
in one night the three horses that were my pride 
are taken from me !" 

"Strike now, and light candle and torch and 
hearth fire," said the one who had come amongst 
them. 

144 



THE TWO ENCHANTERS 

Flint was struck upon steel ; sparks came and 
made the tow blaze ; candle and torch and hearth 
fire were lighted again. Then all looked at the 
one who had come amongst them. 

Tall he was, with a dark and bony face, and eyes 
that were like a hawk's eyes. His dress was a 
plain cloak that had a hood that went over his 
head. And yet, although he had not the staff 
nor the robe of an Enchanter, it did not need 
Anluan's cry to tell the company that here was 
the one to whom his son had been apprenticed 
— Zabulun the Enchanter ! 

"Why do you go in chase of my son?" Anluan 
cried. 

"Harut and Marut laid hands upon me. Am 
I to have no more mastery because of that?" 
said Zabulun. "For forty days I was laid in 
the cave that is under the sea, and do men think 
that all power is gone from me because of that? 
I thought all that time that what I worked for 
would come to pass, and that the Magic Mirror 
of Babylon would be lost in the ruin of the Tower 
of Babylon and that destruction would come upon 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

the Babylonians. This would have been if the 
boy who was my apprentice had been faithful to 
me. But he spoke the words that restored the 
mirror to the Kings of Babylon. And I, whose 
name, as I thought, would stand forever as one 
who had worked a great destruction, am as naught 
— my name is a name to laugh at. And shall 
he pass from my mastership, the boy who let 
this befall me ? Not so ; he has still to be my aid. 
I have paid you, his father, gold for his seven 
years' service, and his service still belongs to me." 

Then, turning to King Manus, Zabulun said, 
"You have granted my request. Command now 
that your grooms go to the stable and bring out 
the black horse that I am to ride." 

King Manus gave the commands. Then out 
of the door of the castle they all went and into the 
courtyard. The still light of the dawn, the dawn 
of Midsummer's Day, was coining over the world. 
The grooms went to the stable, and in full sight 
of all unlocked the great stable door and brought 
out the black horse whose swiftness was such 
that he could overtake the wind of March that 

146 



THE TWO ENCHANTERS 

was before him, while the wind of March that 
was behind could not overtake him. They brought 
forth the black horse and they held him while the 
dark-faced man put himself astride. Then the 
hoofs of the last of the King's horses struck fire 
out of the stones of the courtyard, while a cry 
went up from Anluan, the one-time fisherman. 

And away went Zabulun the Enchanter, away, 
away in pursuit of Eean and Bird-of-Gold, and the 
light of the Midsummer Day came into the world. 

III. The Last Flight of Eean and Bird-of- 
Gold 

As the first light of the Midsummer Day came 
over the world the two who were fleeing before 
him were speaking of Zabulun the Enchanter. 
"That we may baffle him," one said. 

"And what if we cannot baffle him this time?" 
said the other. 

"Then he will take me and make me do terrible 
services for him" — it was Eean who said this — 
"and, worse than all the services he will make 
me do, he will separate us." 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

"No, no," said Bird-of-Gold. "If he takes us 
this time, I shall do everything to make myself 
useful to the Enchanter. I have thought out 
ways in which I can serve him. He will not 
separate us and we will be together still." 

"0, Bird-of-Gold," said Eean, "I am fearful 
lest he should slay you for taking the Magic Mirror 
off the Tower of Babylon. But I have a sword and 
he shall not harm you." 

"I shall escape him," Bird-of-Gold said, "and as 
he followed you and me across the world, so I shall 
follow him and you, and we shall never be apart." 

They had learnt in their wanderings all ways of 
guiding themselves, and as they galloped on they 
were heading for the Western Ocean. Darkness 
was around them at first. But the sky was wide 
and clear, and Bird-of-Gold, when she raised 
her head, could see and name the bright planets. 
There was Mars with his red pulse. Bird-of- 
Gold likened this planet to the steed that she 
bestrode, and as she rode on she sang to herself 
the song that the shepherd boys in her own coun- 
try used to sing about another star : 

148 



THE TWO ENCHANTERS 

That star, I know, is Betelguise ; 
Yet, as I walk the hills by day, 
I hardly know his splendid name — 
That star is far away. 

But when at night I travel on, 
Or watch across an empty land, 
Then Betelguise, my star of stars, 
No thing is nearer hand. 

Then send a ray that I may own 
The fortune that is mine : 
O Betelguise, my star of stars, 
My forehead's for your sign ! 

And after all the countries he had wandered 
through, Eean was now back on the ground of 
his own country. He heard the cry of the curlews 
overhead. He saw the lakes that looked as if 
even the birds had forgotten them, so lonely they 
were, lonely, but with deep memories. He saw 
the cairns of stones above the long dead heroes. 
Once he saw a fox upon a cairn, and it seemed to 
him that this was the very fox he had chased away 
from his mother's coop the day before the En- 
chanter had taken him away from the Western 
Island. 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

With strong hearts King Manus's horses galloped 
on. But the heart of Eean was strained with the 
thought of the distance that was still before them. 
First, a great mountain that had to be crossed. 
Then a wide plain. Then that other mountain from 
the top of which one could see the Western Ocean 
in the daylight. And Zabulun the Enchanter 
might come upon them in the hills or on the plain 
and say a word that might stop their horses' gallop. 

But they came to the last mountain top, and 
they saw the waters of the Western Ocean with 
gleams of gold coming upon them. Adown the 
heather-covered hillside their horses hurried. And 
as the broad sun rose over the broad ocean the 
feet of the white and the red horse were scattering 
the foam along the shore. 

And as they watched they saw Merlin's island 
grow out of the dimness of the sea. Then the 
sun became fuller and it lighted up the White 
Tower, and Eean and Bird-of-Gold knew they had 
come to their journey's end indeed. They sprang 
off their horses, and they dipped their hands in 
the sea, and they kissed each other. 

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THE TWO ENCHANTERS 

" Now we must cast over on the island the tokens 
that the Atlantes gave us," Eean said, "the 
cocks' combs and the peacocks' feathers. If they 
come to Merlin, he will let us cross to his island, 
and we can swim our horses over. But how shall 
we know if the tokens come to him ?" 

He raised the bag in which were the cocks' combs 
and the four peacocks' feathers. He cast the bag 
toward the island. Through the air it went like 
a flying bird. 

They mounted their horses again, ready to 
swim them across when they got some signal 
from the island. And the signal came. It was 
the howl of the wolf that was Merlin's servant. 

Now they were to swim their horses across. As 
they went into the water, Bird-of-Gold looked 
back. Down through the heather of the hillside 
a rider was coming. He was on a black horse. 
They knew him for Zabulun, the Enchanter from 
whom they were fleeing. 



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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

IV. How Eean Won His Release from 
Zabulun the Enchanter 

Merlin, with the tame wolf that was his servant 
beside him, was standing by the White Tower on 
the morning of that Midsummer Day. And 
Vivien was upon the tower, singing to her colored 
birds and looking out over the sea. 

Vivien, who played with her colored birds, had 
still the look of a child in her face. Her hair was 
no longer in tangles ; it was softer than it was 
once, and it fell softly over her shoulders. Her 
eyes, for all the child's look that was in her face, 
were as if they had seen many things come and 
change and pass. 

Like a King, or like one who had been always near 
a King, was Merlin the Enchanter. He smiled, 
and his smile was calm and royal. But one might 
have said that his eyes were strangely close to 
each other and that his lips were strangely red. 

His beard was long and gray. He wore a white 
robe with a belt of green leaves around it, and a 
chaplet of oak leaves was on his head. Vivien 

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THE TWO ENCHANTERS 

was dressed in green, with a golden belt clasped 
around her, and with green leaves in her soft hair. 

So they were standing by and on the tower, 
Merlin, Vivien, and Merlin's tame wolf, when 
the tokens that were from the Atlantes came. 
Merlin laid his hand upon the wolf, and the wolf 
gave the howl that was the signal for Eean and 
Bird-of-Gold to come on the Island of the White 
Tower. The Enchanter saw them ride their 
horses into the water. And then another token 
came to him — the token that one magician sends 
to another, a Bird of Foam it was, and Zabulun 
sent it. 

Deep were the waters, but great-hearted were 
the horses of King Manus, the white horse and 
the red horse, and with Eean and Bird-of-Gold 
astride of them they swam to the Island of the 
White Tower. They came to the sloping shore, 
and the riders helped the horses up to the hard 
ground. The white and the red horse stood 
shivering from their plunge into the ocean. 
Afterward they threw themselves on the grass 
and lay as still as if they were dead. 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

Not to the horses, but out to the sea did Eean 
and Bird-of-Gold look. The black horse with 
Zabulun astride him was swimming now. Swiftly 
to the White Tower where they saw Merlin stand 
they went. 

"O, Merlin," Eean cried, "to you we have 
come to save us from the Enchanter who has 
pursued us from one end of the world to the other." 

"From whom have you come, you who have 
sent such tokens ? " said Merlin. 

"From Hermes Trismegistus in his secret cell. 
And Hermes bade us say to you that we have 
heard from him the answer to the riddle that the 
Sphinx asks, and that we crossed the desert to 
come to you, answering the Sphinx." 

"Who is the Magician who pursues you?" 

"Zabulun, once a Prince in Babylon, O Merlin." 

"Is it he who pursues you? — Zabulun! I 
shall have a welcome for Zabulun." 

"Save us, O Merlin, from Zabulun," Bird-of- 
Gold cried. 

Vivien came down from the tower. "It is 
Zabulun who comes to our island in chase of these 

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THE TWO ENCHANTERS 

two, my Vivien," Merlin said. "Now you shall 
see me match my power with Zabulun's." 

"A match between magicians, how entertain- 
ing it will be !" cried Vivien, clapping her hands. 

"O lady, if Zabulun is not baffled it will be 
death or separation for us," said Bird-of-Gold to 
her. 

" Merlin will baffle him — you will find that 
Merlin will baffle him," said Vivien. "You see, 
he has done nothing to impress me for an age." 

Now Merlin had sent the tame wolf that was 
his servant upon an errand, and the wolf at this 
moment returned leading nine men who wore 
white robes and who had chaplets of oak leaves 
upon their brows. These were the nine prime 
bards of the Isle of Britain who had come to the 
Island of the White Tower with Merlin, their chief. 

They stood as he bade them, four on one side 
and five on the other, with the Enchanter of the 
Isle of Britain between them. Merlin bade Eean 
stand with the four bards. He touched them 
with his staff, and the row of bards and Eean with 
them became all as alike as ten peas in a pea pod. 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

And Merlin went to Bird-of-Gold and touched her 
also, and she became like the lady Vivien exactly. 

Now the black horse that bore Zabulun came 
to the sloping bank of the Island of the White 
Tower, and Zabulun sprang off his back and drew 
the black horse up on the bank. The horse 
breathed mightily, and then like the others lay 
down on the grass. 

With great and sure strides Zabulun came to 
the White Tower where Merlin stood. "Hail, 
Merlin," he cried in a loud voice. 

"Hail, Zabulun." 

"You know of an apprentice of mine who has 
come to your island." 

"Find him, O mighty magician." 

Zabulun looked and saw the ten men who 
looked exactly alike, and the two women whom one 
could not tell one from the other. He turned to 
Merlin then and he said, "What a simple trick 
you would play upon me ! Nine bards you have, 
and there are ten before us. One of them is Eean, 
the boy apprenticed to me." 

"Then you will take him, Zabulun." 

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THE TWO ENCHANTERS 

It is certain that Merlin did not think that 
Zabulun would do what he did now. He changed 
himself into a hound. Running amongst the ten 
that were there he snuffed at them. By the smell 
of the horse he had ridden he would find Eean. 

But as he ran amongst them Merlin touched 
each of the ten bards and Eean with them with 
his staff. They all became pigeons and flew up 
into the air. One had a feather awry. This was 
Eean on whom Zabulun had laid a paw just as he 
was being transformed. 

Instantly Zabulun changed himself into a hawk 
and strove to rise above the flock of pigeons. As 
he did he saw the one that had a feather awry. 
Over him he came. 

Then Eean, seeing the hawk above him, dropped 
instantly to the earth. The others flew down with 
him, crowding around to hide the ruffled feather. 
They came before the door of Merlin's house. 
They flew in and lighted down on the floor while 
the hawk came sweeping up to the doorway. 

Merlin touched the pigeons with his staff and 
again transformed them. They became ten rings 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

of gold that lay upon the floor. As the hawk 
flew in and perched on a chair to fix his eyes upon 
them, the rings of gold rolled into the fire. 

Then Zabulun transformed himself into a tongs, 
and went hunting through the fire for the rings. 
He picked up one ring and flung it out on the 
floor, he picked up another ring and flung it out 
on the floor, and so on, until the ten rings were 
out of the fire. Merlin touched the rings with his 
staff, and they were transformed into ten grains of 
corn. Upon these ten grains Vivien and Bird-of- 
Gold threw handful after handful of grains of corn. 

But now Zabulun changed himself into a cock 
with strong legs and wide claws and a hungry beak. 
With his claws he scratched through the heap of 
grain. With his beak he picked the grains up. 
Vivien and Bird-of-Gold kept throwing on the floor 
handful after handful of corn to cover the ten grains. 

But the beak of the cock went so fiercely and 
so hungrily amongst them that only a few grains 
more than the ten were left upon the floor when 
Vivien and Bird-of-Gold found out they had no 
more handfuls to fling. Then it seemed as if 

158 



THE TWO ENCHANTERS 

the cock with his sharp eye would soon pick out 
the grain that was Eean. 

Then with his staff Merlin touched nine of the 
grains, leaving one untouched. The one he left 
untouched was Eean. The nine were changed into 
weasels, and they faced the cock fiercely. Then 
was Zabulun startled. Instead of picking at the 
grain that was Eean he fluttered up from the 
ground, and went out of the door of the house. 

Merlin touched the grain that was left and 
Eean stood up. Bird-of-Gold clapped her hands 
for joy on seeing him again. But Eean ran out of 
the door of the house after the cock that was 
Zabulun the Enchanter. He snatched up a strong 
staff as he ran. 

Zabulun had changed back into his own form. 
But now Eean had no fear of him. He ran 
toward him. And Zabulun took up a staff that 
was lying there and made to defend himself. 

Then began the battle between Eean and 
Zabulun. Eean struck at Zabulun, and Zabulun 
struck at Eean, and each defended himself with 
the staff that he had. They fought their way 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

across the island, from one side to the other. 
They fought until their staves were broken and 
until they were covered with bruises. Then they 
threw away their staves and gripped one another. 
All around the island they wrestled. Strong were 
the hands of Zabulun upon Eean, and yet Eean 
was not thrown by Zabulun. Eean felt his own 
hands were strong upon Zabulun, and yet he could 
not throw him. Soon Eean lost sense of every- 
thing except two gripping and rocking figures. 

They wrestled their way across the island, 
down to the shore where they had landed and 
where the three horses of King Manus were lying. 
They wrestled until the sea water came over their 
feet. Again things became clear to Eean. He 
knew that if he could overthrow the Enchanter he 
would win his freedom from him. 

He fastened upon Zabulun a grip that seemed 
to be stronger than his own life. He heaved with 
a power that seemed to bring up his last breath. 
He bent Zabulun over. He brought him down, 
his head in the water. He flung himself upon the 
prone Enchanter. 

160 



THE TWO ENCHANTERS 

"What would you have of me?" Zabulun said 
at last. 

"Release. Say you have no more mastership 
in me." 

"I say it. I have no more mastership in you. 
You have release from me." 

"I let you rise." 

Then Eean took his grip off Zabulun. The En- 
chanter rose up and took himself out of the water. 

So Zabulun was defeated, and so release was 
given to Eean, The Boy Apprenticed to the En- 
chanter. Zabulun mounted the black horse that 
was King Manus's and had him swim the water. 
He rode across the plain and over one mountain 
and another mountain until he came to the castle 
of King Manus. There he left the horse to neigh 
for his grooms. 

What became of Zabulun afterward is not 
written in the book that is the History of the 
Enchanters. Some say that from that Mid- 
summer's Day he ceased to be named with the 
great Enchanters. The powers he had gained, 
they say, shrank from him. Afterward a famous 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

juggler appeared in the world. He used to go 
into the halls of Kings on festival nights and do 
marvelous feats with balls and rings and knives, 
and play music on all manner of instruments, 
going from King's castle to King's castle. That 
juggler, they say — but they may be mistaken — 
was Zabulun, once Prince of Babylon, and once 
master of the Inaccessible Island. 

Eean and Bird-of-Gold went within the White 
Tower, and conversed from noon to dusk with 
Merlin and the lady Vivien. Before that Mid- 
summer's Day had passed into darkness, they 
mounted the white steed and the red steed and 
had them swim across the waters. When they 
came to the farther shore they let the horses stand 
for a while. Then mounting them again they 
rode over the mountains and across the plains 
and came again to the castle of King Manus. 

V. The Return of King Manus's Horses 

Again Manus, King of the Western Island, sat 
in his supper hall. The torches were in their 
sconces, the candles were lighted on the table, 

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THE TWO ENCHANTERS 

the hearth fire was blazing on the hearth, and his 
lords once again sat to the right and the left of 
him. But this time they sat without laughter 
and without high words. 

The harper and the story-teller were at the table 
too, but they neither made music nor told stories. 
They had tried, both, that evening, but no one 
had listened to them. Outside, the iron door of 
the stable gaped wide, and the grooms and horse 
boys and watchers stood idly around or went 
quarreling amongst themselves. It was very 
difficult, as you may imagine, for the harper to 
play upon his harp when he would hear the King 
say into his wine cup, "O, Raven, my black 
horse, where art thou now?" And it was equally 
difficult for the story-teller to get on with his tale 
when he would see the King looking at him with 
unseeing eyes and hear him say, "O, my white 
and my red horses, what would I not give if I 
saw you back in my courtyard again ?" 

So you can imagine the silence that was upon 
the supper board that was wont to resound with 
conversation and story-telling, with music and 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

pledges of the wine cup. "O, Raven, my black 
horse, where art thou now?" said the King once 
again ; and then, "What would I not give to have 
my white and my red horse in the courtyard 
again?" And these were all the words that King 
Manus could be got to say. 

And then, suddenly, a loud neigh was heard 
outside. Straightway King Manus ran out of 
the supper hall. The lords, the minstrel, and the 
story-teller, the stewards, servers, and attendants, 
ran with him. And when they came as far as 
the wide door of the castle they ran into the grooms 
and the horse boys who were running from the 
stable. All ran together. And there, in the 
middle of the courtyard, without a rider upon his 
back, was Raven, the King's black horse. 

They brought him into his stall in the stable, 
and they combed him and they groomed him ; 
they gave him the red wheat and the white barley 
to eat and the clear spring water to drink. King 
Manus could hardly be prevailed upon to leave 
Raven's stall and come back into the supper 
hall. But at length they got him back into his 

164 



THE TWO ENCHANTERS 

seat, and then the supper board resounded with 
pledges of the wine cup as the King and his lords 
drank to each other merrily. 

Again there was neighing in the courtyard, 
this time a double neighing. Straightway the 
King ran out and all who were near ran with him. 
They ran into the grooms and the horse boys who 
were running from the stable. There in the 
courtyard were the white horse and the red horse. 
They were not unmounted, however, for Eean 
and Bird-of-Gold were upon them. 

This time King Manus grew into such glee that 
he swore by the open hand of his father that he 
would make a duke of every lord who was with 
him that night. There were great rejoicings. 
Some tossed their torches so high that they 
frightened the owls out of the cornices on the 
castle. The grooms brought the white horse and 
the red horse into their stalls in the stable, and 
they fed them with red wheat and white barley, 
and gave them the clear spring water to drink. 

Then they went to carry Eean and Bird-of- 
Gold into the supper hall. They were not to be 

165 



THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

found for a while, for Anluan, Eean's father, had 
led them away. He was seen to weep over Eean, 
and to take the hands of Bird-of-Gold and kiss 
her while he called her daughter. And to Anluan 
King Manus gave the privilege of bringing them 
to the supper board. 

The King put Eean into the story-teller's seat, 
but he had Bird-of-Gold sit beside him on his left 
hand. The feast began all over again, and went 
on from egg to apple. And when wine had been 
drunk King Manus called upon Eean to tell the 
story of his journey to Merlin's Island and the 
full tale of how he had defeated Zabulun the 
Enchanter. 

When all was told the King gave presents to 
Eean and Bird-of-Gold and he swore that for a 
year and a day he would have them live with him 
in his castle. "And," said he, "this girl, Bird-of- 
Gold, has been very loving and faithful to you as 
you have been to her, and for a further benefit 
to you I shall have the old blind sage come down 
from his attic in the castle and marry you here 
and now." Eean and Bird-of-Gold took each 

166 



THE TWO ENCHANTERS 

other's hands as he said this, and the old blind 
sage was brought down from his attic chamber, 
and he married Bird-of-Gold and Eean by the 
rays of the rising sun. 

For a year and a day they lived in King Manus's 
royal castle. Now Eean had learnt so much of 
the arts and crafts and mysteries that belong to 
an Enchanter that he was able to do great works 
for the King. Castles he built that gave security, 
and bridges that brought people together, and 
mills that ground for the people abundance of 
corn. He had become so strong and so sure 
of himself since his encounter with Zabulun that 
all he set out to perform he did well. And his 
wife, Bird-of-Gold, loved him so much that her 
thought never went back to the country she had 
come from. Always, they say, she kept a flock 
of white ducks ; perhaps they reminded her of the 
thousand ducks that was the fortune she brought 
into Babylon. 

But the story-teller must not forget to tell you 
about the question that Eean asked Merlin the 
Enchanter on King Manus's behalf. It was about 

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THE BOY APPRENTICED TO AN ENCHANTER 

a game of chess that King Manus had been play- 
ing with his brother-in-law, King Connal, for half 
their lifetimes without either having victory in 
sight. Moreover, they had inherited the game 
from their fathers, and it was now being played 
for fifty years. Merlin told Eean what the moves 
should be, and the day after he came to the castle, 
Eean took the chess board and showed them to 
the King. With that instruction he played. The 
game of chess was finished three days afterwards, 
and great fame and honor came to King Manus. 




168 



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